Dog Days

We enjoy reading about politics, but we are tired of insurrections and impeachments.  So, let’s talk about Raphael Warnock’s dog.

This analysis at the website 538 is almost like a mini ZMET study of the impact of two ads from Rev. Warnock, one the new Senators-elect from Georgia. It focuses on the starring role of Warnock’s beagle.

These ads are awesome at multiple levels. First, you find it hard not to smile when you see them, which is perhaps unheard of in political advertising. They’re really cute and clever and they don’t look like political ads. That’s one level of success.

At another level they humanize Warnock.  Unlike many Democratic candidates, he does not come across as a bloodless technocrat, a wild-eyed revolutionary, or a tedious scold. He’s just a nice guy with a cuddly dog.

But 538 and many experts in political science contend that, at an even deeper level, the ads, quite bluntly, made it more acceptable for White people to vote for a Black guy. Dog ownership, as they argue, is culturally associated with White Americans.  A study in the 1990s revealed not a single prime-time television commercial that depicted an African American pet owner. 

So, the fact that Warnock owns a dog – and a beagle, at that, which is a very friendly breed – unconsciously defies some stereotypes that we may not even be aware of.

As the author points out, “Warnock’s dog ads may well be thought of as a dog whistle to voters who have lingering concerns about Black political leadership.”