"If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog."- Harry Truman

Calvin Coolidge went above and beyond the call, reportedly owned a pygmy hippo and a wallaby, but I'm ashamed to say that I don't know enough about his presidency to know if that says anything about his track record. (That may say enough, actually - with those kinds of animals on your mind, what time do you have left to run the country?)

Take a look back a the full list from the Presidential Pet Museum, then fast forward to 2008, and the question: what do John McCain's more than 20 pets (cats, dogs, turtles, birds and a good number of fish) and Barack Obama's zero and a post-campaign promise of a dog say about their presidential promise?

Anything, or nothing at all, depending on personal opinion, but in a country where an estimated 63 percent of households have pets and pet industry expenditures are projected to top $43 billion this year, companion animals matter to many Americans. (Source: American Pet Products Manufacturing Association, via the Humane Society of the United States.)

Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer says..."Remember, there are no quick fixes; pack leadership is a year-round 24/7 commitment."

The pack in this case numbers over 300 million according to the most recent Census numbers, and as was famously pointed out in the primaries, whomever gets the nod had best be available by phone at all hours to handle crises large and small. A July 8 Associated Press poll indicates that pet owners favor McCain over Obama, 42 to 37 percent, a relatively slim margin that is wider among dog owners.

There is of course no indication that McCain - on the road a good bit of the year whether he's campaigning or not - is in the trenches or even on the couch with his pets, nor that he travels with them at all. Likewise, Obama's petless situation could be considered a wiser choice given his and his family's similarly busy schedule. Pets need time, hands-on care and a commitment in many cases of a decade or more. Chances are if you and your family are immersed in a run for the top spot in government, there isn't much time left over to keep the water bowls full or to head to the dog park.

I'm not saying that's the way it is, but it could be. Any parent who's ever known it's not the right time to own a dog and had to tell a child "no" might be familiar with this tough call, one that makes foreign diplomacy look like a cakewalk. Likewise, anyone who's ever gotten a pet (even partially) to teach just how hard it is to take responsibility for another creature sees the other side. It's easy to be warm and fuzzy about pets and caring for them, but it's more realistic to say that it's a commitment - of time, expense, emotion and ultimately, the grace of giving in and grieving when the awful truth comes clear that they just don't live as long as we do.

Sites like Real Clear Politics have reams of hard data on the differences between McCain and Obama, tallying over a year of polls and commentary.

It's easy to do this based on quantifiable variables - who voted for or against the war in Iraq, or helped to pass or shoot down any number of bills in the Senate? McCain and Obama have opinions and positions, yes, although none of their official lists online include animal rights statements - not that I can find anyway.

But what about the softer, more qualifiable side of things? Like, say, crocodiles? The Los Angeles Times reports that Obama was not always petless, and that the pets of his youth - at least the time that he spent in Indonesia - were a bit more exotic than the average.

Obama took few kids to his home, just members of an inner circle who were trusted to see his secret pets: crocodiles that lived in a concrete tub, about a foot-and-a-half deep and a yard long, surrounded by chicken wire. The biggest croc was almost as long as its home, recalled Adi. Obama’s stepfather “was breeding crocodiles in his house,” he added. “Not many people knew about it. He only had one big crocodile, but they had many smaller ones.”

The family’s pets included a turtle as big as a cookie tin and an ape named Tata, which Obama’s stepfather brought from New Guinea.

Likes a challenge? Appreciates the unusual? Bad leadership attributes? Not really.

Animal activists are on the case as well. Kelly Overton, Director of People Protecting Animals and Their Habitats wrote on Counterpunch that Obama - and likely McCain as well -needs to be able to "build an ark." Talk about a tall political order, even in light of Obama's words in Las Vegas in January:

"I think how we treat our animals reflects how we treat each other, and it's very important that we have a president who is mindful
of the cruelty that is perpetrated on animals."

New York Magazine's Electopedia did a tally of the pets in the presidential race.

“Let me tell you, we talk about this dog every day. Every day,” Obama said. “'What kind are we going to get? You do know we’re getting it? What breed, how big, how small?’ Yesterday morning we talked about names. I said, ‘Look, you’re getting a dog, just knock it off.’”

There were more contenders in the race when Discovery.com's Pet Trends blog posted about pets, but the commentary in the comments remains interesting. Could a voter really use pet ownership as a barometer of fitness to lead, or an indication of just how a leader would do it? Seems so.

Kris said:

I have to admit that although I am thinking about voting for Obama, it bothers me that he doesn't have a pet... is that weird???

Posts like Mandy's - an unhappy Democratic voter - throw pet ownership into the mix in a seeminly off-hand way, but definitely as an indicator that could make a difference if one were on the fence.

McCain would have to say or do something truly heinous, crazy or scary for my vote to change. But, since I see McCain as a basically decent man (who apparently likes and has a good number of different pets), I don't anticipate that happening.

Jasper the Japanese Spitz wonders what the motivation is for Obama's potential pet ownership.

Promises from a politician are usually meant to be broken. If he wins, however, he'll probably make good on his promise--maybe for photo ops purposes (have you noticed how President Bush's pet dog "humanizes" him when the latter is around?). But that's not a good enough reason for me, though. The fact that he still doesn't own one now at his late age speaks volume to me. If only dogs could vote, I won't vote for him!

Whether the family is getting a dog due to presidential peer pressure or not, America does love a poll, and some news outlets are butting in with their own advice - and collecting that of the masses - to determine what breed of dog the Obamas should acquire.

The Rocky Mountain News put the word out to local rescue and shelter groups to help "pick the perfect pet" for the Obamas, and the American Kennel Club has winnowed the list of breeds on their poll down to a (predictably) elite five. John Woestendiek at the Baltimore Sun Mutts blog says that the breeds were chosen based on Malia and Natasha Obama's allergies, but he hopes they'll "tell the AKC to take a hike."

LuraV says the Obama's have "a promise of a pet," but she recommends yellow Labs if they make the jump.

(Hello, cat people? Ferret lovers? Bird maniacs? Any suggestions? Care to encourage the Obamas to jump ship? Speak up. The debate about cat vs. dog Presidents should be a spicy one!)

Anyway, getting a pet is relatively easy. It's the long-haul that matters, and can bring as much effort as it does joy. Pet care and training is difficult, and it reveals personality - of pet and person - over time. To make the best call on what it all has to do with presidential promise, I'd have to see Senators McCain and Obama leading a puppy through her early paces or, most tellingly, whether they'd obey the "please clean up after your pet" signs. When no one was looking.

Because, as Dogs, Cats, Etc. wants us to remember:

Nixon had three dogs while he was in the White House.

Laurie White writes at LaurieWrites.