By ,
Published May 10, 2017
Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine…
An Image Problem
Countless factors can affect a presidential candidate's electability.
This week we learned one of the early Republican front-runners has a major strike against him.
Scott Walker does not and probably will not ever-- have a dog.
In the world of presidential optics, man's best friend has long been a major boon for candidates and sitting presidents.
The New York Times reports the Wisconsin governor is extremely allergic to dogs.
This puts him at a decided disadvantage over potential opponents-- many of whom have already pledged their love and devotion to dogs.
"It humanizes them," explains the founder of the Presidential Pet Museum. "It shows that they are just like me and you."
Forget fiscal issues-- or foreign policy track records.
This is serious-- quip Twitter users.
"Scott Walker has to be eliminated as presidential material. He's allergic to dog dander."
"2016 hinges on the puppy vote."
Walker is not the only contender in this canine conundrum.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is also allergic.
Both-- have owned goldfish.
Apparent Transparency
Critics say the transparency website -- belonging to the self-described most transparent administration in history -- is now anything but transparent.
USASpending.gov is supposed to be your portal to how your taxpayer dollars are being spent.
But it underwent an overhaul yesterday.
Now the Washington Free Beacon reports -- the site no longer enables keyword searches.
That means finding out how much was spent on a particular item is nearly impossible-- data that was easily accessible before the re-boot.
The changes to the site were intended to be improvements, including fixing errors in the contracts -- and billions of dollars not included on the old site.
A Treasury spokesman tells the Grapevine-- the department is looking into the issue, and is open to feedback-- on how the site can be improved.
Righting a Wrong
And finally--
A wounded warrior whose golf clubs were stolen last weekend-- will have a full bag again soon.
Two of Retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel Justin Constantine's clubs disappeared -- after he left them at the driving range at the Army-Navy Country Club.
Constantine was severely injured in Iraq in 2006-- and says golf has been very therapeutic for him.
We posted this story on the Daily Bret yesterday-- and received an outpouring of offers.
However -- the makers of his custom-designed clubs -- Ping -- says they will replace the missing wedges.
https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/grapevine-scott-walker-faces-a-canine-conundrum