President Elect Barack Obama announced that the family  has found a new First Dog.  Said the President Elect, “After much deliberation, and after promising my daughters that Hope does indeed hold a brighter, clearer future for all of us. Whether you were born an Obama or married into the Obama family, we are all One Obama family, with one hope, one promise, one dream, and one marvelous dog. Socks the Dog is the culmination of that hope and dream and we pray that God will bless this family with many good and valuable memories. ”

This announcement so confused the press they dropped their preassigned Obama questions. Asked one reporter, without express permissions previously from the Obama team, “Isn’t that a cat? Specifically, isn’t that Socks the Cat?”

As with other selections, this choice of “dog” has aroused a certain amount of pushback from critics who maintain that President Elect Obama has done nothing but recycle the Clinton’s trash, white and otherwise.  Said one critic, “What experience does this creature have in being a dog? I can see if we wanted a cat to take up a less important position, like Secretary of Education, but First Dog has a proud tradition.”

The President Elect, speaking quickly lest he go into nicotine withdrawal, emphasized that in choosing a real dog, he ran the risk of finding one that might accidentally be asssociated with the Bush Administration. Socks the Dog will be moving in with the Obamas next week.