In these dog days of summer, let’s consider the most important decision facing Barack Obama. Cousin Franklin’s dog Fala had a press secretary, starred in a movie and was named an honorary private in the Army. So the American Kennel Club (AKC), hoping to help usher the 23rd purebred dog into the White House, is conducting a survey (you can vote at presidentialpup. It suggests that the bichon frise’s history as companion to French noblemen would qualify the breed for the White House, but I’m not sure that’s the image Obama’s looking for. An AP–Yahoo News poll in June found that pet owners favor John McCain over Obama, 42% to 37%, with an even bigger edge among dog owners. A dog was never an option in the Manhattan apartment where I grew up, and my daughters knew that training the dog they so desperately wanted was nothing compared with training me to accept one.

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