A week ago, I wrote a blog post about Margaret's ambitions to become the Obama family's new First Pet. Well, Margaret's campaign for the White House made it all the way to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., today.
Roll Call, a newspaper that covers the innerworkings of the U.S. Congress and is widely read by members of Congress, their staffs, lobbyists, corporate government relations executives and others who follow Congress closely, published a story on Margaret in their Monday issue. It appeared in their "Heard on the Hill" column that starts on page 1, and the item on Margaret ran in the rest of the column that continued on page 20. That's it above. (Click on the image for a larger version.) The headline is about another topic in the column.
This started when Randi S., one of our fabulous supporters in Washington, D.C., emailed our blog post to a staff writer at Roll Call early last week. I didn't think more of it until the phone rang on Friday morning, and I found myself talking with a reporter from the paper. After getting off the call, I emailed the reporter the photos from the blog post, and lo and behold, look what showed up in Roll Call!
The caption for the photo reads, "As the Obama family contemplates what kind of puppy to bring with them to the White House, Margaret the Goat of Ovando, Mont., campaigns for a place in the Obama administration. Maybe if Montana had voted Democratic…"
The story reads:
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The Obama Scapegoat? While D.C. insiders squabble over who will get the Secretary of State gig in the Obama administration (yawn), most of the country has been enthralled over a more pressing question — which breed of dog will the future first family pick?
But in a town that’s all about competing interest groups, nothing is ever that simple, and now there’s another four-legged creature lobbying to be First Pet.
Margaret the Goat lives at the Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary in Ovando, Mont. While most of the residents at the nonprofit sanctuary are disabled dogs and cats, Margaret came to the ranch on work duty, assigned to eat pesky out-of-control weeds, ranch overseer Steve Smith tells HOH. But instead, Margaret ignored her duties to hang out with the staff.
“She is more like a dog than a goat. She follows people all over the place,” Smith says. “She goes for a walk down to the mailbox to get the mail with you.”
With her friendly disposition (and entitled I-don’t-want-to-work nature), Margaret would make a perfect White House pet, Smith argues. To get the word out, Smith posted an item on the ranch’s blog about Margaret, writing that there’s precedent: Former Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Benjamin Harrison both kept goats at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Even if Margaret doesn’t make it to Washington, Smith says he’s just happy that the Obamas plan to get a rescue dog rather than a pet from a breeder. He even offered up Molly and Priscilla, two blind standard poodles who live at the ranch, noting that they are hypoallergenic.
“There are absolutely wonderful animals in shelters today that would make terrific family pets,” Smith says. “We were just thrilled that the Obamas decided they were going to adopt.”
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Meanwhile, Margaret spent the day expecting CNN to call any minute and is surprised they haven’t yet.
Rolling Dog Farm Blog 
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