Presidential Politics: It's Dog-Eat-Dog

Just because the nation is suffering from massive unemployment (except in Midland), and we have no confidence in real estate, stocks or banks and we have become a service oriented country rather than manufacturer causing our trade deficit to escalate and our tax system is crazy... let's ignore all this. It seems the main topic in the presidential race is, DOGS. 

While the 37.2 percent of Americans who own dogs might find this debate scintillating, it does nothing for me. It seems, as a child, President Obama ate dog meat when he lived in Indonesia.  While folks may find the appalling, it is a part of Asian culture.  I'm sure he didn't have much choice when it came to his meal selection.  I think it must have been a Terrier/Pit Bull mix, later affecting his ability to get on well with others.
Each culture has it's own peccadilloes regarding food, so let's let this one drop.  I'm sure there are enough Jewish folks appalled that he eats pork and natives of India who find his beef eating repugnant. But, if dog sounds like your cup of tea, try puppybeef.com.  (I can't tell you what this site is like, because you have to register before they will deal with you.)

Mitt Romney is accused of sorely mis-treating his dog Seamus because he took the dog on vacation with the family...a trip from Massachusetts to Canada...with Seamus riding in a dog crate on top of the vehicle.  I can't speak for northern canine, but in the south, it is a dog's dream to ride in the back of a pickup truck.  Large dogs do not do well encased in cars...they seem to need voluminous amounts of fresh air and are prone to car sickness.  I don't understand the fuss. Long before seatbelts, etc., I undertook a family vacation from Massachusetts to Maine...two cars, seven people and all the luggage required for a month's stay.  We drove for eleven hours, through a hurricane, and I'm surprised my father didn't tie one of us on the roof.
So, getting back to politics...how important is this dog issue?  Because historians periodically feel self-important, they rank the presidents according to whatever light they reveal themselves under current scholarly research. While I don't agree with the rankings, they give me a basis for the following.
The presidents with no pets ranked pretty low in the ratings: Chester A. Arthur (25), Millard Fillmore (38) and Franklin Peirce (40).  The lowest ranked, Andrew Johnson, had white mice. Franklin Roosevelt, ranked number one, had 8 dogs. Theodore Roosevelt, ranked two, had 4 dogs, three cats and a menagerie of pets including, bears, rats, hyena, zebra and a lion. I bet they never had to fertilize the White House lawn!
Of the top ten ranked Presidents, seven owned dogs.
Bill Clinton, ranked thirteenth, (Oh, what were they thinking?) had a cat and a dog.  The Clinton's came under some fire when they gave Socks the cat to a former secretary.  It seems Socks was heckling dog, Buddy.  I guess Socks's revenge was that he/she lived until 2009 and Buddy was run over and died in 2002.
Anyway, don't bet on a cat helping you into the White House.  Only three of the top ten President's owned felines.
The prize for the most outrageous pet goes to John Quincy Adams (19) for his alligator.  The best named pet belonged to James Garfield: Veto, the dog. Among the most publicized presidential pets were FDR's dog Fala, the Kennedy's pony, Macaroni and Lydon Johnson's Him and Her beagles. I would worry though, if one's pet was getting more press coverage than the Commander-in-Chief. So all of you Presidential aspirants, choose your pet wisely.