European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 15, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The dog Days in the Are Over by Jules Loh the associated press As any election analyst yet looked into the possibility that former president Bush lost the election simply by displaying the canine card after All dogs had rescued faltering campaigns twice before. Once by a Republican dog checkers j once by a Democrat Fala. But poor Millie was never Given a fighting Chance. Look Back. On oct. 29, Bush said my dog Millie knows More about foreign policy than these two  but the next Day the headlines gave the play to the bozos Bill Clinton and at Core instead of the dog. Either the spin doctors had barked up the wrong tree or Bush failed to realize the historical significance of his own line. Either Way Millie s big Opportunity in the course of human events went Down the tube. By contrast look at How Franklin d. Roosevelt with Fala s help and a gift for sarcasm pulled his 1944 Campaign out of a tailspin. In the midst of a great War Roosevelt s strategy for election to a fourth term had been to appear presidential indispensable above partisan politics. It was t working Well. Voters were whispering about his health especially when his doctor after an examination Art Lessly noted no unusual  the polls began to tilt toward his robust opponent 42-year-old Thomas Dewey. But for was Well enough for a tour of Pacific bases aboard a Navy Cruiser. One Stop was at Adak Island in the aleutians. On his return Home a new Rumor arose. It claimed that after departing Adak for discovered that Fala had been left behind. Whereupon went the reports he ordered a destroyer to steam out and fetch the dog. Rather indulgent to say the least of the Leader of a nation called to sacrifice the ? alleged taxpayer expense increased with each retelling. In a speech sept. 23 at a Washington hotel for. Struck Back. Before socks moved in presidents proved that a bark helped their political bite a Franklin d. Roosevelt shared a presidential limousine and a political Campaign with his scottice Fala. Above socks the Clinton family cat is now top dog in the White House. These Republican leaders he intoned his expression somber his voice dripping with regretful indignation have not been Content with attacks on me or my wife or my sons. Pause no not Content with that they now include my Little dog  then he squeezed it for All it was Worth Well of course i Don t resent attacks and my family Don t resent attacks but Fala does resent them. You know Fala s scotch and being a Scottie As soon As he Learned that the Republican fiction writers. Had concocted a Story that i had left him behind on an Aleutian Island and had sent a destroyer Back to find him at a Cost to the taxpayers of 2 or 3 or 8 or 20 million dollars his scotch soul was furious. He has not been the same dog is  now that s How to play the canine Aird As if trumping an Ace not a glancing reference in a throwaway sentence. The voters chuckled. The president won. Fala outlived his master and is buried near the foot of his grave at Hyde Park in upstate new York. ". The lesson was not lost on Richard Nixon. His own Effort known in political folklore As the checkers speech matched with Schmaltz what the Fala speech accomplished with wit. Both worked. Which proves the versatility of what May be christened the political doctrine of Carpe canes seize the dog. In 1952 Dwight Eisenhower campaigning against corruption in government promised with unforeseen irony an administration As clean As a hound s  so the Campaign was practically derailed when it Aime out on sept. 18 that his running mate Nixon had. Received $18,000 from a group of Rich californians to help him make ends meet As a senator. An outcry arose in both parties dump Dick. Nixon turned to television to plead his Case for staying on the ticket. It was the first year of the new medium s use in a presidential election and a foretaste of to s Power. In a half hour performance Nixon acknowledged that the fund existed but said the donors had asked no favors and had not obligated him in any Way. It was t quite As forceful As his later i am not a Crook but meant the same. Well outgoing president George Bush s dog Millie never got a Good Chance to help my run. A Eisenhower s 1960 reference to incoming president Kennedy As a Young whippersnapper did t quite come up to bozos either but those were Kinder gentler times Nixon his voice choked told a dramatic Story of his life How he had helped his hard working parents in the family grocery had struggled and sacrificed through his Early years of marriage. He followed with a list of meager possessions made possible by the secret fund such As his 1950 Olds and his wife Pat s respectable Republican cloth  then the Climax. He had also accepted As a gift he said a Little Cocker Spaniel checkers. He hoped the politicians would t attack him for that. The kids All the kids love the dog. And regardless of what they say about it we Are going to keep  he asked his listeners to let the Republican National committee know by wire whether he should quit the ticket or stay on until we drive the Crooks and the communists and those that defend them out of  a million responded. Nixon flew next Day to Washington and Ike greeted him Dick you re my boy docs it seems can affect not Only election returns but also those approval disapproval ratings that presidents track almost As devotedly. If dogs can get politicians out of the Doghouse they can also get them in Lyndon Johnson found that out one Day when he playfully seized his net Beadle him or her one of the two by the ears and lifted. Carpe canes should not be taken literally. News photographers caught him in the act and a nation of dog lovers yelped louder than the dog. Johnson finally redeemed himself with the dog lobby when he took in a stray his daughter had found abandoned at a filling station in Austin. The president allowed the Mutt Yuki to snooze under the table at Cabinet meetings. Politicians As politicians will appear to have turned inside out that Richard Nixon relaxes with checkers at left Lyndon Johnson uses a yank on the cars to get her to sit up for a photo. Old adage love me love my dog. They seem to adhere to the reverse that if people love their dog they will love them and set about making their Dogias lovable As they can. It would help explain an unsolicited announcement by president Bush Early in his administration. In Millie s first 10 months on the White House grounds he informed the press one Day she had killed six squirrels two rats and a Pigeon. The Rex a tors were to understand presumably that cute Millie was no wimp. America has had Only 41 presidents counting grow Cleveland who kept sheep twice but lie pages of White House history Are littered so to speak with the names of about 00 dogs. The Best dog names or at least the most consistent were the 30th president Calvin Coolidge and his similarly alliterative wife Grace go Odhus. Their Dop Peter pan Paul pry Rob Roy prudence Prim tiny Tim Ruby rough and King Kole. Silent Gil also had a cat 1 in. As first pets cats historically have come in a poor second As speech making foils or Pluto of props. It s no wonder. Cats seem indifferent toward people often snobbish. Not a populist Imago. Lincoln s son Willie had a cat who had Kittens in the White i Louse and father Abraham helped name them. History records Little else not even the names. Teddy Roosevelt had a six toed Ait named slip jul of a Caroline Kennedy had Tom Kitten. Amy Carter had misty  Ying Yang. If there have been other first its they have escaped the notice of researchers. Now comes socks the Clinton family Ait. Socks has liken the plat r of Millie in the White House in what was presumably a smooth transition. But should the new president meet with trouble Ejli tidally Don t in surprised if a dog appears and rushes to the Rescue. Socks would probably understand. The stars and stripes 18 the stars and stripes monday february 15, 1993