In this cartoon from the fall of 1860, Lincoln and his three opponents, John Bell, Stephen A. Douglas, and John C. Breckenridge, are depicted as baseball players.
Lincoln, his foot planted on "home base," tells the other players they must have a "good bat" to make a "clean score and a home run."
Lincoln's bat is actually a fence rail, inscribed with the words, "Equal Rights and Free Territory."
Lincoln is wearing a belt which reads "Wide Awake," a reference to the Wide-Awake Clubs that supported his candidacy.
Stephen A. Douglas wears a belt reading "The Little Giant," which was his nickname in the U.S. Senate.
In the foreground of the cartoon is a skunk. And John C. Breckenridge notes "...we are completely skunk'd."
