Cat Senate Campaign: Our Aim Is To “Point Out The Farce That Is The Political System”

Politics

Cat Senate Campaign: Our Aim Is To “Point Out The Farce That Is The Political System”

4:15 pm, February 28th | by Laura Donovan

Cats have nine lives, and maybe that’s partly why 9-year-old feline Hank from Virginia believes he would make a strong, reliable political figure.

The Maine Coon, who resides in Virginia with campaign manager/owner Matthew O’Leary and O’Leary’s partner Anthony Roberts, has just begun his campaign for state Senate. Though O’Leary told The Jane Dough that the campaign is a “joke” and merely meant to show the declining quality of some of our leadership, Hank’s official website shares details on the animal’s underdog (or shall we say, “undercat”?) story:

“Born to a single mother living on the streets, Hank, his mother, and his siblings were taken to an animal shelter and sat on death row. Shortly before their execution, Hank and the rest of his family were saved by an animal rescue group called Animal Allies. Hank was adopted to a loving family, and was raised by his adopted brother Sammy. Being from the streets and having nothing, Hank learned the value of hard work. Putting himself through school while working, Hank was simply too stubborn and driven to let his disadvantages dictate his future. After graduating with honors, Hank quickly entered the business world and brought himself up to start and run a number of successful local companies.”

Though Hank has received ample press for this race against former Virginia governors George Allen and Tim Kaine, he ran for state Senate last year and only collected nine votes. Considering the number of signs Hank’s team has created and all the media coverage the “independent” party cat has gotten, there’s a good chance he’ll fare at least a better this time around.

“A lot of people understand there’s a joke going on here but that there are problems with our current political leaders, and Hank is showing that,” O’Leary told The Jane Dough of the cat who boasts having “real world experience, a unique point of view, and limitless energy.” That’s saying a lot considering the laziness of most cats!

As far as what O’Leary and the Hank campaign are seeking to accomplish with this endeavor, they’re really only hoping to spread awareness of the incompetence of elected officials as well as address the value of animal rescue shelters.

“We don’t have any focus as far as what we’re looking to achieve, but we want to point out that he was a rescue and that other rescues need help, so we mention The Humane Society on our site,” O’Leary continued, “other than than to point out the farce that is our political system.”

So what do Kaine and Allen have to say about their new challenger? As O’Leary mentioned to us, Allen tweeted of photo of himself and his cat Cisco over to Hank’s Twitter page. “Welcome to the race @Hank4Senate,” reads the tweet, which shows bewildered looking Cisco standing on Allen’s shoulder. The competition between Allen and Hank appears to be friendly, but Kaine hasn’t said anything on the matter yet. In case Hank drops out of the running, we can just do an informal vote on who is the cuter furry friend: Cisco or Hank.

Watch Hank’s campaign video below: