Election '08: My hackles are up

At least when it comes to the presidential race.

As a feline American, I am less than thrilled with the animal rights records of the people on the presidential tickets from both major parties.

Back in January, Animal Rights Blog did a decent write-up of how candidates stood on animal welfare.  It's worth a read; I personally found a few surprises in there. Dennis Kucinich was described as "very strong" on animal rights, (the highest praise given to any of the Democratic contenders at that point) and John McCain was called generally "strong" on animal rights.  WHAT, you say?  Yeah, I had to check it out for myself.

Project Vote Smart notes that McCain is hardly the most animal-friendly politician on the planet (he supported the interests of the Humane Society of the United States only 25% of the time in 2007). I suppose there's room to argue that his record improved slightly between 2004 and 2008...as he got closer to declaring his candidacy for president.

As is discussed on the Humane Society Legislative Fund's Animals & Politics blog, however, it's not so much McCain, as the horror show that is Sarah Palin, who is the real threat to animals from the GOP. (Check out that art: dear GOD.) Not a pretty package overall.

The Democrats are offering a little better, though, to me, it's nothing to get excited about. Barack Obama, despite his now famous pledge to back animal rights, ranks higher than McCain, though is still not outstanding on these issues (supported the interests of the Humane Society only 75% of the time in '07, up from a mere 60% in '05-'06, when it was becoming obvious he might make a run for the White House). Joe Biden is slightly more supportive of animals than Obama, but continues to suck pretty badly.

For those who are curious about how Obama and Biden's former Dem opponents rate, my ears perked up when I read that Hillary Clinton had a strong record on animal rights. John Edwards did alright for my furry friends, but I wouldn't call him wonderful, though I probably shouldn't have expected much from a guy who once admitted he'd never heard of PETA.  

I wish the Democrats had managed to nominate candidates who offer animals more protection and respect.  As far as Four Legs are concerned, this presidential nominee is a far cry from the last one (my No Tails' beloved John Kerry has a pristine animal rights record).  I intend to let Obama/Biden know they really need to shape up in this area.