Dogs are not only man's best friend, they're also the best judges of human character and moral foundation. For decades, America's dogs have been forced to interact with presidential candidates, some of the worst human beings our species has to offer.
One of those candidates is Beto O'Rourke, a former blogger who married a real-estate heiress. America's dogs have met with Beto, judged him, and found him wanting. In fact, many of our nation's dogs are pretty creeped out by the dude, including his own. (Hat tip to Abigail Marone for her investigative reporting on this matter.)
Beto named his dog Artemis, because of course he did. The black lab was featured on the infamous Vanity Fair cover (and Annie Leibovitz photoshoot) that O'Rourke now admits was a mistake that reinforced a "perception of privilege." As several users of the social networking website Twitter pointed out at the time, Artemis presented as a demoralized hostage crying out for help.
A number of Beto supporters have been eager to introduce the candidate to their dogs. The dogs themselves? Not so eager to meet him.
Some have attempted to dress their pooches up in Beto 2020 gear, clearly against the dogs' will.
There is even a "Dogs for Beto" Instagram account dedicated to his canine "supporters." A few choice selections from that feed are presented below. You be the judge...
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Canine Americans are an often overlooked demographic that has become increasingly difficult to poll, but they are typically a leading indicator when it comes to presidential campaigns. Journalists who have kept abreast of the prevailing sentiment among our nation's dogs will not be surprised by Beto's momentous decline in the polls since announcing his candidacy in March. I mean, woof.
Quinnipiac poll of 2020 Democrats
Biden 35%
Sanders 16%
Warren 13%
Harris 8%
Buttigieg 5%
Booker 3%
O’Rourke 2%
Klobuchar 2%
Castro 1%
Gabbard 1%
Yang 1%
[everyone else 0%]https://t.co/wo00DR52ug— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) May 21, 2019
Sorry, Beto. The dogs have spoken. Maybe it's time to hit the "paws" button on the whole presidential campaign (and/or mid-life crisis) you've gotten yourself into.