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Six months into his presidential bid, Joseph R. Biden Jr. has made his position on pets clear.
“Some Americans are celebrating #NationalCatDay, some are celebrating #NationalDogDay,” he written in a tweet. “President Trump celebrates neither. That says a lot. It’s time to return a pet to the White House.
In January, when President-elect Biden moves into the White House, a bit of normalcy will be restored to the country’s highest office: him and his wife, Jill Biden, is expected to be joined by their two German Shepherds, Champ, 12, and Major, 2.
The news has been applauded by dog owners and especially those who support animal adoption over commercial breeding. A decade after buying Champ from a Pennsylvania rancher, a move criticized by some animal rights organizations, the Bidens adopted Major in 2018 through the Delaware Humane Association; he will make history in January as the first shelter dog to move to the White House.
Many animal welfare agencies posted on the news, including the Delaware Humane Association, which captioned a photo of Major: “First Dog Elect.”
Patrick Carroll, the executive director of the Delaware Humane Association, said that Major “shows the real possibilities of what could happen for all the big dogs that need homes out there.
Mr Carroll, 54, recalled the day Mr Biden adopted Major in 2018. He said the former vice president was in a theoretical rush, but ended up staying in the shelter for more than an hour, telling stories and taking selfies. with staff members. “He was very kind and engaging, as he always has been,” he said.
On social media, dog lovers shared their enthusiasm for the return of pets to the White House. WeRateDogs, the definitive internet source for dog reviews, said of the first dogs that will soon be: “Both 14/10 would be an honor to stroke.”
Matt Nelson, 24, the creator of WeRateDogs – which reviews dogs by photo submission – said the Biden campaign provided photos for the post on Champ and Major. “It was kind of a bid, but it wasn’t like Joe Biden was one of our deputy ministers,” he said.
Posts from pet enthusiasts continued to appear until Monday. Somewhere along the way, an image of Mr. Biden with Major was photoshopped so that the German Shepherd appeared, obviously, huge. “Guys, Major Biden is a big dog,” Jane C. Timm, reporter and fact checker for NBC News, tweeted. “He’s not THAT big.”
The tradition of presidential pet ownership dates back to George Washington and has been carried on by 30 of the 45 presidents. Mr Trump was the first president in more than a century without such a companion, a fact that critics (and supporters) have repeatedly grasped over the past four years, noting the potential of a pet to benefit its health and its image.
In September, a group called Dog Lovers for Joe ran a 30-second ad featuring black and white images of Republicans and Democrats – Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama – kissing their dogs. . The video urged viewers to “choose your humans wisely.”
Rob Schwartz, CEO of TBWA / Chiat / Day New York and creator of the ad, said the idea came to him after an advisory call with the Biden campaign about their post. Regardless of the campaign and his agency, he wanted to hammer home the common ground Mr. Biden shared with much of the electorate.
Mr Schwartz, 55, found that nearly 70% of American households include dogs and hoped his ad would appeal to both the indecisive voter and the “red stater with arms”. (At the very least, he conquered the Republicans at the Lincoln Project.)
Mr Carroll, of the Delaware Humane Association, said that despite notions about bipartisanship that dogs can inspire, the announcement of the new White House dogs has attracted attention. “We did a simple post on our Facebook page and we received very negative feedback,” he said. “We recognize that the country is very divided.”
At the same time, “the power of dogs on the Internet is recognized by everyone,” said Nelson of WeRateDogs. With the rise of the web and social media, presidential pets have produced wacky and sometimes viral images, and have become stars in their own right. In 2002, President Bush featured his Scottish Terrier Barney as the star of what would become an annual White House Christmas video. President Obama’s Portuguese water dog, Bo, featured prominently in his second campaign.
“People look at a whole constellation of attributes when they vote for president,” Mark McKinnon, a Bush campaign adviser, told the Washington Post in 2012. “Animal lovers may not be in the lead list, but it’s on the list. “
Yet President Trump rejected the idea that he should have a pet. “How would I look like walking a dog on the White House lawn?” He told his supporters at a rally in El Paso in 2019. He also often treated the word “dog” as an insult, using it to disparage women for their appearance and eligibility as partners, and men for their weakness.
During his campaign, Mr. Biden and his team made direct appeals to animal lovers with merchandise (like a “No Meowlarkey” cat collar) and social media posts emphasizing the importance of presidential pets.
Mr. Trump’s merchandise store, for its part, sells MAGA dog collars and leashes.
Meanwhile, at RepublicanDogs.com there are big discounts on Trump bandanas.
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