Many political experts contend the winning presidential candidate in this year’s election will be the one who can best appeal to moderate, right-leaning independent voters. These voters are supposedly the ones that have yet to make up their minds.
In this particular scenario, it becomes too risky for candidates to advocate economic, social, or diplomatic policies deemed as radical. Such radical ideas work at firing up the respective bases of the candidates, but those voters don’t need any further convincing. Rather, the key to victory lies in modulating the message to produce moderation while avoiding elements of extremism or weirdness — in this sense, what is required is an emphasis on normal views pertaining to major voter concerns.
However, based on what is occurring so far during this wild campaign year, it appears the concept of moderation needs to also apply to any views or behavior related to of all things, animals. In my opinion, a case can be made that the candidate who best exhibits normality regarding anything animal related, whether they be friendly pets or wild beasts, no matter if they are fish, fowl or mammal, either dead or alive, will see victory this November.
In the modern political era, animals have sometimes played a significant role in a presidential race. There was Richard Nixon’s famous Checkers speech during which he sympathetically invoked the name of his pet dog to convince Republican voters that he was a legitimate vice-presidential candidate. And then there was Socks the Cat, Bill Clinton’s pet feline, who charmed the media and voters in both the 1992 and 1996 elections.
Alas, those relatively normal stories of normal animals appear to be a thing of the past. In this year’s presidential election run-up, animals are playing quite a wacky role, serving to expose candidate weaknesses and provoking some of the candidates to reveal strange proclivities and phobias.
Take, for example, President Joe Biden’s misfortune regarding two of his pet dogs who once had the run of the White House. The first one, Major, ended up getting banished from Washington due to a number of biting incidents. His replacement, Commander, suffered the same fate after repeatedly trying to make a meal of several Secret Service agents’ legs.
What effect did this have on Biden’s pursuit of a second term? While most people blame the president’s debate performance as the major reason for dropping out of the race, there are those who believe his inability to control the family dogs reinforced the impression that he was similarly unable to exert control on such things as inflation, crime, and illegal border crossings. I’m thinking the Secret Service agents who were victims of the alleged 24 Biden White House dog attacks would favor this latter explanation.
The Republicans have experienced a dog problem of their own. While attempting to work her way onto the GOP presidential ticket, South Dakota governor Kristi Noem wrote in a book of how she took pride in once shooting a pet dog in the head. The story, intended to show candidate Donald Trump that she was tough enough to be vice-presidential material, backfired by depicting her to the public as cold-hearted. Even Trump, who on January 6, 2021, didn’t seem too upset when his more extreme supporters wanted to hang Vice President Mike Pence, seemed offended by Noem’s Cruella-like dog tale.
As it turns out, Governor Noem eventually learned that Trump’s selection for Vice President on the Republican ticket was a man critical of cats, or at least the people who like cats, or more specifically, single women who like cats. Upon winning the Republican nomination for vice president, Senator JD Vance quickly found himself embroiled in controversy after suggesting the troubles of America could be connected to “a bunch of childless cat ladies” who because they have no children “don’t really have a stake in this country.”
In his defense, he has since apologized to cats. However, he has also been questioned about his links to Project 2025, a 900-page conservative playbook that among other things rails against the proliferation of dog parks because they reflect an anti-family culture. I’m not sure if being anti-dog park is a good way of winning over moderate American voters. Nearly every community wants a dog park. To paraphrase the 1964 Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, “Extremism in the name of being anti-dog park, might indeed be a vice.”
Of course, Donald Trump himself has no pets; he has instead limited his animal-related remarks to wild beasts, namely sharks and birds. As we know from Stormy Daniels, as well as several rambling speeches, he is not crazy about sharks. Given the choice between being eaten by a shark or getting electrocuted by an EV battery in the water, I think he leans more toward a preference for death by Elon Musk products.
And as far as demonstrating his bitter disdain for windmills as an alternative energy source, Trump claims these contraptions are nothing more than giant bird killers. Find a windmill, he maintains, and underneath you will certainly find “a bird cemetery.” Could this be evidence of Trump actually demonstrating sympathy for creatures? Call me skeptical.
Finally, the wackiest animal story expressed during this presidential campaign has to be Robert Kennedy Jr.’s dead cub in Central Park story. Stories of any kind don’t get much weirder. Before this dead-cub story, Kennedy was warily seen by many voters as existing on the fringes of America’s political spectrum. In post dead-cub America, however, it’s possible that Kennedy could put forth the most radical political proposals, and anything he said would still be overshadowed by what he did in Central Park. That shows you how impactful wacky animal stories have become in this presidential race.
From what I have read, Vice President Kamala Harris has a dog. Governor Tim Walz has one too. Sounds fairly normal. No controversy as far as I can tell. If they are to win over the moderate American voter, I suggest they keep it normal in regard to animals of all kinds. My advice to them is simple, safe, and anti-wacky…keep your dog away from Secret Service agents, don’t shoot at dogs, be nice to cat owners of both genders, keep animal and windmill phobias to yourself, and do not under any circumstances, pick up road kill on the way to the dog park.
Steve Rodriguez is a retired Marine Corps officer and high school teacher who last taught at Olympian High School in Chula Vista.
