Grapevine: Parrot missing for four years reunited with owner

Bird lost British accent; speaking Spanish

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine...

Familiar Face

It's a lesson you'd think candidates would have learned by now -- using stock photos to represent real voters can backfire.

The latest example -- this ad -- attacking Maine Republican Governor Paul LePage.

It was made by the Maine Forward PAC, which is largely funded by the Democratic Governors Association.

This guy -- representing out-of-work Mainers -- is not unemployed at all.

The Washington Free Beacon reports he works at General Dynamics a company that has praised the governor for his economic initiatives.

But when it comes to misrepresentation in campaign ads, there's plenty of blame to go around.

Last month, for example, a former Mitt Romney strategist launched an ad campaign -- "Republicans Are People Too" -- purportedly to show a more diverse face of the party.

But then someone noticed that the "Republicans are Black" woman -- is actually a stock photo model, whose image is all over the Internet as an attorney, an engineer, a glasses model -- just to name a few.

A Fate Worse Than Death

Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie would rather die than be a senator.

Really.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, R - NJ: I would rather die, than be in the United States Senate, ok. I would be bored to death. You'd watch me just walk out and walk right into the Potomac River and drown, that would be it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

One person tweeted that Christie's comments -- quote -- "...sound like a guy who's planning to run soon against senators for an executive job."

The Incredible Journey

And finally, a pet parrot missing for four years was reunited with his owner in California last week.

The Daily Breeze reports Nigel was no worse for wear from his years away but there was one startling difference.

He had lost his British accent and now he speaks Spanish.

There's no telling where he picked up his new language, but one major clue as to who he's been hanging out with -- he keeps asking for Larry.