I don't know about you, but a few years ago when I heard about that dog in Chile who saw another dog get hit by a car and who stayed with his injured friend until help arrived, I thought to myself, "Gee, I've known Republicans who wouldn't show the compassion or empathy that poor dog did."
Studies have shown that dogs appear to feel empathy for others even when they have nothing to gain from it and it doesn't necessarily have to be someone they know.
If you have a cat, you've no doubt experienced some of the ways they seem to intuit when you are sad or not feeling well. They will rub their head on you, try to groom you, or will knead you with their front paws as a way to try to make you feel better.
Compassion in animals isn't limited to domesticated dogs and cats. Anyone who's ever watched the nature shows on PBS has seen the profound grief that elephants and gorillas experience when one of their family members dies and the lengths that emperor penguins and other animals in the wild go to in order to feed and protect their offspring.
There has even been research to determine if having pets and showing compassion to animals can make humans more compassionate to other humans.
If animals could vote, I believe they would want to make sure everyone could count on the opportunity for a decent life so they would vote for candidates who want to protect the environment and who will impose regulations to make sure our food is healthy and safe. I do not believe animals would support candidates who are beholden to large corporations and who only care about reducing taxes for the wealthy.
Every year, the Humane Society publishes their Humane Scorecard of Congress which shows how lawmakers throughout the country scored on animal protection issues.
As election day nears, if you care about your animals as much as they care about you and want to make sure you are voting for candidates who are committed to protecting them, check out the Humane Society's Animal Protection Voter Guide to see how the legislators in your state are doing. A quick glance will show you that most of the candidates the Humane Society supports have a D after their name. And, really, is that any surprise?