election: November 2008 Archives

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.