During Barack Obama’s historic victory speech, he thanked his family for their support, and he added a special promise to his girls: Sasha and Malia would be getting the puppy they had hoped for. Surely it will be the easiest campaign promise for him to keep.
The media immediately latched onto the story, along with a slew of other stories to tell us about our soon-to-be First Family. The Chicago Tribune speculated the next day on which breed would be a likely candidate. They later ran a photo slideshow retrospective on Presidential pets.
The main question is no longer Republican v. Democrat, but rather pure-breed v. rescue dog. In a Obama’s first press conference as president-elect, he expressed interest in getting a “mutt like me.” You can cast your vote at ElectObamasDog.com. You can also lobby the Obama’s to purchase a rescue dog by signing a petition at PresidentialPoochPardon.com.
The Obama’s were faced with some bad news the next week, though. Since their older daughter Malia has allergies, the search for the dog had focused on those breeds with a minimum of dander. However, media reports from allergists showed that “there is no truly ‘hypoallergenic’ dog.” Fortunately, the Washington Post hosted a chat with an expert on pet adoption, researched the best way to live with a pet when you have allergies, as well as created a photo gallery of options.
The hunt for the dog recently met another setback, though. Sadly, on Sunday, Nov. 16, in an interview with 60 Minutes, Barack and Michelle Obama announced that in order to be “responsible” pet owners, they would not purchase the dog until after they were settled in their new residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It seems the media has been doing more dog debating than the Obama’s have.
Why would the Obamas get a dog now? If they didn’t have a pet before now this future dog will be just for show. What will happen to the dog when they leave the White House in 4 years? A pet is a lifelong commitment, not a piece of the political puzzle. If Obama thinks it will sway people who don’t like him, he better think again. I already like him less than I did before (and my opinion wasn’t very high to begin with). A dog is a living creature and you don’t play with the life of a living creature. I can only hope all the animal rights people get after this and save one precious pup from having to deal with a family that obviously doesn’t want him/her. Instead, Obama should get a doggie screen saver and let the kids look at that. Or get one of those little hand-held pet things that you have to feed, play with and clean up after. When the kids are through with that, they can throw it away without causing angst to a critter whose only goal is to live happily with his humans.
Well, apparently those girls have been lobbying for a dog for quite some time. And it’s not like they will be able to get out much with all that Secret Service protection. I think it’s a great way for the girls to feel like normal kids and to have a great built-in friend.
I just hope the kids make the decision, not the pundits. Same goes for the Obama’s choice of school. Quite frankly, DC public schools are a mess, and I don’t think they should send the girls there, even if it looks bad for them to go to private schools.
I think it’s more likely that Bush’s Barney is a simple presidential prop. He has been biting reporters lately, like any good Bush press secretary would!