You Think Politicians Can’t Be Sweet and Lovable? Think Again! – 9 Pictures + Video
We all know that (most) politicians today are manipulative and shady, that they only care about their own ambitions and their party’s well-being and not about the people they should represent. At least, that’s how I feel about politicians. However, there are some of them who really have the best intentions and don’t really care about stuff like power or money. Meet some of the most famous animal politicians and pledge your allegiance to them now!
Stubbs
Welcome to Alaska, and one tiny town called Talkeetna where for 20 years one very sweet cat served as an honorary mayor. Unfortunately, after long and successful political career and very fulfilled life, Stubbs passed away this summer. However, the memory of his achievements will always live as a part of Talkeetna's history, even though Stubbs wasn’t immune to the lavish lifestyle that his position allowed him to lead. For example, it is well known that this orange Manx loved drinking water, with catnip, out of a wine glass, but that small eccentricity never took away any love from him since he was a great mayor according to all the citizens.
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Cacareco
Cacareco was a truly popular rhinoceros who managed to get 100,000 votes in 1959 in a campaign for city council in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Cacareco actually means garbage in Portuguese and her nomination was supposed to send a clear message to the local politicians. Even though the students from Sao Paolo entered her name on the ballot as a practical joke, the number of votes Cacareco received have inspired many similar cases across the globe.
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Tião
Another animal politician, this time a chimpanzee called Tião, comes from Brazil. Almost thirty years after Cacareco, this cute chimp was used to point out the rising political corruption. Tião was a candidate for mayor of Rio de Janeiro and even though the authorities have annulled all the votes for Tião and never announced how many votes he actually got running with a slogan “Vote monkey – get monkey”, unofficial estimates say that he got over 400,000 votes and came in third in this race.
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Brynneth Pawltro
Brynneth Pawltro, an extremely cute and loyal pit bull, isn’t the first dog mayor of a tiny town called Rabbit Hash. They have been electing canine mayors since 1998, and Brynneth is the fourth dog to get elected to this prestige position. The first mayor was Goofy Borneman, then came the first black mayor Junior Cochran, and then the recently retired first female mayor of Rabbit Hash, Lucy Lou. Now Brynneth Pawltro gets her turn and she will surely do her best in her new job.
4 / 10
Billy the Kid
It is time to visit New Zealand now, and the town with an extremely long and tough name to pronounce, Whangamomona, which had an amazing “president”, a goat called Billy the Kid. Yes, president, since Whangamomona citizens declared themselves a republic in 1989, as a sign of protest for redrawing regional boundaries. Unfortunately, their president died after less than two years in office, and was then replaced by Tai, a poodle who decided to retire after less than one year in office. I guess being the president of Whangamomona is a very stressful job.
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Pigasus the Immortal
During the Vietnam War, in the midst of the presidential elections of 1968, a group of protesters called Yippies led by Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin nominated Pigasus the Immortal for the president of the United States. Yes, Pigasus was a pig. However, he didn’t really have such a pleasant experience during his presidential campaign since he was arrested along with seven other protesters. He even got a trial where Rubin read a speech for Pigasus, and his brief place in the spotlight ended soon after that.
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Boston Curtis
When Boston Curtis won the election to become the Republican precinct committeeman for Milton, many of Milton’s residents were shocked. Not because of his victory, since he ran uncontested, but because they weren’t aware that Boston was actually a mule. However, the democracy was honored since Boston left his hoofprints on the documents needed to register his candidacy, along with the signature of Milton’s mayor, Kenneth Simmons, who was in fact – a Democrat. His practical joke served both as a ridicule of the Republican party, and a warning about the election system and voters’ uninformed decisions in elections.
7 / 10
Incitatus
Even though there isn’t enough evidence in historical documents to back up this infamous story, I have decided to include Incatitus on my list. He was the favorite horse of one of Rome’s most eccentric rulers, Caligula, and the story says that Caligula planned to turn his pal into a Roman consul. However, Caligula’s plans were disrupted by his death (he was assassinated) and Incacitus remained just a regular horse.
8 / 10
Morris
As we have seen from this list, there are many people around the globe unsatisfied with their politicians. This is also the case here since Mexican voters decided to nominate Morris, a furry feline cutie, for mayor of Xalapa in 2013. Morris even has his own Facebook page, and has gathered more than 10,000 votes on the election day, even though he wasn’t officially allowed on the ballot. Also, this Mexican Morris should not be confused with another political cat with the same name, a different Morris who ran for president, twice!
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Hank
Hank is a pretty experienced politician, since he ran for Senate more than once. This adorable cat unfortunately passed away in 2014, but his campaign still stands as a perfect example of a good humor that can raise important questions. Hank’s owners raised a lot of money during the campaign, which they donated to various animal charities. They even made a mock attack ad, using the negative language like real politicians do in their campaigns.
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Image Sources:
- nydn.us/1v6SqoC
- bit.ly/2iSRjKx
- bit.ly/2eRjDc0
- bit.ly/2tIziA2
- bit.ly/2vV1QX2
- thebea.st/2gu28OH
- flickr.com/photos/roguesocks
- bit.ly/2wyspmQ
- nydn.us/2gucdew
- bit.ly/2vVi2rb