Recently in election Category

The pampering. The pageantry. All those reporters to bite.

First Dog Barney prepares to say goodbye to it all in his farewell video.

President Bush's dog Barney was in no mood for reporters this week. He is a Republican-owned dog, after all.

So the feisty Scottish terrier took his election week frustrations out on Reuters reporter Jon Decker who reached out to pat the pup.

According to the Associated Press story (with "attack" video on the link):

Sally McDonough, a spokeswoman for first lady Laura Bush, said of Barney: "I think it was his way of saying he was done with the paparazzi."

Mrs. Bush asked McDonough to call Decker and make sure he was fine. She reports that Decker "is being a good sport about it all."

The White House doctor bandaged up the reporter's grazed finger. He's also on antibiotics for a while.

Tension between reporters and the GOP White House have been legendary, of course. And that led one political blogger to crack about Barney: "Years of training finally paid off."

We know you're weary of politics after what has been a very long campaign season.

But here are a couple more pet-related tidbits you might like to know about.

The American Kennel Club earlier had conducted a public poll on this topic (the poodle won). But now that Barack Obama is officially our president-elect, PetPlace.com is launching a new new poll on the best dog breed for the Obamas. 

Partial poll results have the Labrador retriever in the lead so far. So be sure to cast your vote. (The family has announced, by the way, that the dog they choose will be a rescue.)

Meanwhile, the PetPlace web site posted results from its dog and cat (owner) vote for president and, after a thorough analysis, poses this provocative question: Are cats more liberal than dogs?

The results were surprisingly and substantially different between cats and dogs ... The dogs election was close throughout the 9,200 votes with McCain and Palin ahead by only 1 to 2 percentage points, then pulling ahead at the last minute and winning by 5 percent.

However, the cats voted for Obama ... with a margin of 16 percent.

This brings up the question -- why the difference between cats and dogs? Are cat owners more liberal? Are dog owners more conservative? 

Read more about it at Pet Place.

Previously: Political dog news; campaign silliness abounds; partisan dogs; the fun never stops;   red dog, blue dog; red bowl, blue bowl; campaign going to the dogs?

Barack Obama is giving his speech right now. It's an amazing moment.

But perhaps the best part of all is he just said he was going to buy his daughters a puppy!

For the winners of the candidate-dog look-alike contest.

And here they are:

Winning the Obama look-alike was Amore Francine, a 52-pound boxer prone to tilting her head. She hails from Mt. Clemens, MI.

Winning the McCain look-alike was Ginny Doll of Rochester Hills, MI, a 7-pound Maltese with well-groomed white hair and what contest organizers called a "relatable, friendly face."

You can find more details at Rover411. The dogs were chosen from 10 finalists in an online contest. More than 4,000 votes were received.

We've written about the T-shirts. We've written about the dog food bowls.

Now, your dog and cat can sport a political message on their collars. You can also hear some specially penned songs by going to the PoliticalShop Web site: 

Sharon Young, owner of PoliticalShop.com, has been designing and selling campaign buttons since 1992. This year, she came up with a new hit product, "Patriotic Pets" campaign buttons for pets that clip directly onto your dog or cat's collar. Young has recently penned a new rap song and video entitled "Bark Obama vs. McCain9."

"I was watching the candidates fight like cats and dogs on TV one day," said Young, who writes songs as a hobby, though mainly in off election years. "I decided to write a song about Election 2008 as seen through the eyes of dogs and cats."

Among the offerings: "Bark Obama-Joe Bite'n" and "McCain is Purr-fect" buttons.

Earlier posts

More political pet news: 

campaign silliness abounds; partisan dogs; the fun never stops;   red dog, blue dog; red bowl, blue bowl; campaign going to the dogs?

Forget the debates. Forget the polls.

For dog lovers, this is the most closely watched political decision of the season: -- What kind of dog will the Obama family choose? 

Well, we're still not sure about that.

But this much we do know as of this past weekend: Michelle Obama announced on Entertainment Tonight that the family will "adopt a rescue dog."

You may recall how the American Kennel Club rallied around the call last summer to find  just the right match for the Obama family as they prepare to pick out their first dog. After much begging from the kids, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama promised they would get a dog, win or lose, after election day.

There were allergy issues with Obama's two young daughters, so a vote conducted by the AKC concluded that a poodle would be the best choice. (Poodles, currently the eight most popular dog breed in the U.S., are good for people with pet allergies.)  

But the debate hardly ended there.

Enter the Best Friends Animal Society. Worried that the Obamas might wind up purchasing a puppy rather than adopting a dog from a shelter or rescue group, the organization launched the Obama family dog website along with a petition drive to encourage the Obamas to adopt their dog.

Whichever dog the Obamas choose to adopt, we wish the family many years of muddy paws, sloppy kisses and best-friend happiness.

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Of course, that being said, dogs threaten to make quite a mess of presidential decorum.

Check out this You Tube video of what happened when a couple of GOP candidate John McCain's (several) dogs decided to burst onto the scene uninvited -- right in the middle of an important sit-down interview at home.

Can anyone say awkward?

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I think we can safely say that no matter who wins this November, we'll at least have a dog (or dogs) in the White House. For better or worse. 

Woo-hoo!  And woof-woof!  Dogs rule. (Yeah, and cats too.) 

Related posts:

campaign silliness abounds; partisan dogs; the fun never stops;   red dog, blue dog; red bowl, blue bowl; campaign going to the dogs?

And I thought the McCanine and BarkObama bandanas were silly.

Seems now there's a presidential look-alike contest where you can send in photos of your dog who, yes, you think looks like Barack Obama or John McCain.

We are looking for the dogs that look most like our candidates for the "My Dog Looks Like Obama or McCain Photo Contest." Hurry, there is only one week left! Due to such great response, we have extended the deadline for photo submission until Sept. 15.

The "Is Your Dog Presidential?" contest is sponsored by Rover411 in Michigan and there are rules.  Among them: 

Entrants have to agree "that you will not upload or post any photos or other content that is or may be threatening, profane, harassing, defamatory, unlawful, vulgar, obscene, pornographic, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable...."

In other words, be civil, be good. Please. (I was going to add "respectful" to the list, but then wondered if that's even possible when you are, after all, comparing the next leader of the free world to a DOG. Yikes. But you get the idea.)

You can email your photo submission, but you must be 18 years old and register as a member of the web site first. Online voting takes place from Sept. 22 through Oct. 22.

Yeah, it's silly, but kind of nice to see some light-heartedness in this way-too-edgy campaign.

Not sure what they're looking for? Here's the web site's samples:

(now stop laughing!) 

OK, now everyone's jumping on the pet-theme election bandwagon. Make your pick: BarkObama? Or McCanine?

Yet another web site, pets vote, that's gotten into the act. But I wonder if cats can vote?  (HT: Barkability.com)