Oh, what to do about Mallard Fillmore? The cartoon duck that appears daily on The N&O comics pages has been on a tear lately against Barack Obama, and his conservative quacking has brought howls of protests from the Democratic faithful.

Recent example: "I'm Barack Obama, and I blessed this commercial." Another: "And now, according to the rules, the current version of Senator Obama will have two minutes to rebut the statements made by the previous version of Senator Obama."

Clever digs, maybe, but nakedly political. The N&O has been deluged with complaints that artist Bruce Tinsley's jackhammering of the Democratic nominee is inappropriate for the comics page.

"Can't you see how tremendously unfair this is -- in this election year to allow one-sided attacks on only the Democratic presidential candidate?" wrote Judith Fertitta of Durham.

"All the comics in the N&O comics pages provide humorous, generic, non-political perspectives on life -- except 'Mallard Fillmore'," wrote Peter Orton of Hillsborough. "All the comics in the N&O comics pages are mainstream humor, not political commentary -- except 'Mallard Fillmore'." He urged that "Mallard" be moved to the opinion page, alongside "Doonesbury," which often is political satire.

"Mallard Fillmore" has been drawing liberal ire since The N&O added the strip to the comics pages last year, but the outcry has risen as the contest between Obama and John McCain has heated up. Tinsley's pen has shifted from jabs at all things liberal and Democratic to, in August, a laser bombing of Obama. Of the 26 strips in August, all but 11 targeted the Democratic nominee.

Is that bad? There is something to be said for having a conservative humor strip in a newspaper generally regarded as left of center, at least on its editorial page. "Doonesbury," which has run for at least two decades on the Op-ed page, is a revered voice of liberal orthodoxy.

"Mallard" runs in about 400 newspapers around the country. Brendan Burford, comics editor of King Features Syndicate, which distributes the strip, says it inspires strong passions, intentionally so. "It's got its ardent followers who love it, and it's got its ardent, ardent haters, people who couldn't disagree with it more," he said. "I just think that's its function in the world."

Burford says he's heard of no newspapers that have canceled the strip over the recent Obama tirade. He said most run "Mallard" in the comics, not opinion, pages.

Here are the choices I see facing The N&O, with pros and cons of each:

* Move "Mallard" to the Op-ed page. Plus: Preserves the conservative voice and provides an ideological pairing with "Doonesbury." Minus: Eats valuable opinion-page real estate for syndicated columns and contributed viewpoints.

* Move "Doonesbury" to comics. Plus: Brings ideological balance to the comics pages. Minus: Makes comics more political, takes a popular feature off Op-ed.

* Cancel "Mallard." Plus: Removes an overtly political strip that offends many readers. Minus: Removes an overtly political strip that pleases many readers. (In our last reader survey, "Mallard" had among the highest positive and negative votes among readers.)

I vote for option 3. Here's why. Tinsley's cartoon has morphed from political satire to political propaganda, and the prospect is that it will get more partisan as the presidential campaign intensifies.

With 15 anti-Obama panels in one month, the strip has abused its place on the comics page. But it's frankly not of the same artistic or writing quality as "Doonesbury" and doesn't merit opinion page placement on bombast alone.

I fully expect that our readers from the starboard side would be aggrieved if the duck flies off. That's a concern, but I don't think the newspaper has an obligation to continue an unfair partisan strip out of a contrived sense of balance. "Doonesbury" too has been political lately, during the Democratic convention, but its jabs were at the Democrats.

Debra Boyette, features editor, says the editors will be reviewing "Mallard" along with other strips. "This fall, we will make changes to the comics pages as a result of feedback to the guest comics we've had over the past several months," she said. "As we make those changes, we will take into consideration readers' comments about 'Mallard Fillmore'."

If you'd like to have a say, send an e-mail to comics@newsobserver.com.

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