My profile picture suggests that I am a sedentary dog, and in some ways this is true. I do enjoy a nice lounge on my doggy bed, on the sofa, or on a patch of grass or clover. And yet I have my active side too. Not only do I like to get in my daily exercise, but I can't help feeling the imprint of the frenetic physical activity humans have been putting themselves through in two arenas: athletic and political.
Athletic, in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London ... and political, on the campaign trail for president and also for senator in my home state of Massachusetts. And I ask my human readers: Which Olympic activities line up best with which candidates? Here are my answers:
Mitt: Twists and turns
Perhaps you have followed the exciting contortions of the Olympic gymnasts, such as Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman of the U.S. I can’t do somersaults or splits like them, but I am very adept at rolling on the ground for a good back-rub on a clover patch. And Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has his own form of gymnastics: Verbal contortions.
Like American Danell Leyva twisting his torso through the air, Romney has veered first one way, then another, on his political career. First he passed universal health care in Massachusetts ... then he was against it. First he supported TARP ... then he was against it. First he defended driving cross-country with his Irish setter Seamus atop the family Chevy station wagon ... then he told Diane Sawyer the backlash hurt.
Obama: Gale force
Although I live in "The Bay State," my human companions Rich and Laura have never taken me out on the water. Yet from our trips to the beach, I know how powerful the wind currents can be. They can, for instance, ruffle my shaggy Westie coat. And they can also affect the outcome of a race -- sailing or political.
In 2008, then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama showed a knack for judging the campaign winds as he sailed to a presidential victory. Obama picked up electoral wins in states that had been uncharted waters for Democrats, such as Ohio and Florida. This was because Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain wasn't persuasive enough to Americans whose homes and businesses were (figuratively speaking) underwater.
To win these states again, President Obama will need the navigational skills of British gold-medal winning sailor Ben Ainslie. This is because Obama‘s rival, Romney, is also reading the political winds. Romney’s vice presidential list is rumored to include politicians from both Ohio (Rob Portman) and Florida (Marco Rubio). And remember, the GOP convention is in Tampa this year.
Warren & Brown: Pump it up
I have more than a passing interest in weightlifting. No, I do not "pump iron" myself ... but any good Westie should know how to position her or his body to gently resist the tug of a human many times bigger than a terrier. (It's all in the shoulders.) So, I was intrigued watching Zhou Lulu of China lift 333 kilograms -- over 600 pounds! -- to win Olympic gold in the women's competition.
Well, here in Massachusetts, our incumbent GOP Sen. Scott Brown and his Democratic opponent, Elizabeth Warren, have committed themselves to picking up larger and larger sums of campaign cash. This Senate race is becoming the most expensive in state history -- over $40 million raised by Brown and Warren combined -- in a time when people are out of work, and states and the country in general are hurting financially.
My advice to the candidates -- to all candidates, in fact -- is to spend less time pumping out campaign cash and more time pumping out handshakes.
Daisy is a 10-year-old West Highland white terrier living in Cambridge, Mass. Her column appears regularly.
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