In the Press
Pets get political online with blogs, merchandise, input
By MERYL WILLIAMS
Published: Tuesday, August 19, 2008 9:09 AM EDT
Columbus Local News
Cara Orfield knew her business would be supported when she heard Al Gore’s speech this summer in which he endorsed presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.
“He said, ‘After the last eight years, even our dogs and cats have learned that elections matter’,” Orfield said.
“It was so relevant to what we are doing here.”
Orfield began an online business with her husband and two neighbors in Minneapolis, Minn., this spring, selling bandannas for man’s best friend on thedogvote.com. Both red McCain and blue Obama varieties are available.
The tongue-in-cheek site began after the four realized they were becoming as obsessed with the presidential primaries as they were with their dogs.
Cara and husband Nolan own a poodle terrier named Stella. Neighbors Jeffrey Kemnitz and Marin Hoffman own a golden doodle named Barley.
Barley is credited with a blog on the site, which includes posts with titles such as “Britney Spears and John McCain Doggie Kiss” and “Barack Eats Bacon,” detailing information nuggets uncovered along the campaign trail.
“We started The Dog Vote as a group,” said Orfield.
“We came up with something funny to fuse our interests in dogs and politics.”
She looked online for political attire for her own dog, and found nothing like what she wanted.
“We figured there were many dog afficionados who are also interested in politics,” she said.
The site has been up since mid-May, and is surprisingly successful, said Orfield.
“It’s a satirical site,” she said. The site features a Doggie Electoral Map, and the candidate who has the most electoral votes will be declared the Doggie president.
“Right now, Obama’s winning in a landslide,” she said.
She admitted she would be voting for Obama in November, but that she feels her canine counterpart will be supporting McCain.
“She was a stray, but she worked her way up,” Orfield said of her humane society rescue, Stella.
A newly added feature on thedogvote.com is an exit poll. After owners purchase a bandanna, they may fill out a survey about their dog and indicate which issue is most important to their pet.
Although the site leads to the bulk of their sales, a Virginia store recently began carrying their products. Orfield said there is a possibility of expanding to T-shirts and dog food bowls.
“It’s just getting off the ground,” said Orfield, who does a lot of Internet marketing for the site. She has contacted many dog store sites, some of which link to thedogvote.com and take a small cut of profits through advertising.
“It’s been really exciting,” she said.
Three of the four business partners, including Orfield, however, will be starting graduate school this fall. Orfield said she believes the business will continue through the struggle.
Orfield was in town visiting family in Upper Arlington this week, before starting a masters program in public policy at the University of Michigan.
“We’ll keep pushing on,” she said. “We’ll just be sending each other e-mails at two in the morning instead of two in the afternoon.”
For now, the partners enjoy working with their site, and keeping customers interested.
“We pretend to be really serious,” she said. “But it’s all in good fun.”
“We figured there were many dog afficionados who are also interested in politics.”
–Cara Orfield
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