All signs now point to a healthy win by Barack Obama over John McCain, but things

could change in the weeks that remain until election day.

There are two things that Obama could do to nail down a victory. The first is to slightly alter the spelling of his name by simply adding an apostrophe. Running as “O’Bama” would surely win the support of Irish-Americans. The second thing he could do would be to address a major topic that has been avoided by both parties in the campaign.

Surely both O’Bama and McCain know that millions of Americans are pet owners. Yet the only mention of pets so far has been in regard to pit bulls wearing lipstick. Neither candidate has yet appeared alongside the family pet, and voters are left with no inkling of what their policies would be regarding pets and their owners. What O’Bama should do is set up a photo op showing him arriving home to an especially warm welcome from his adoring wife and daughters, because cuddled under his arm is a darling abandoned puppy he has just rescued from the dog pound.

Hands down, O’Bama would win, but just to drive the nail tighter, the dog pound should try to come up with an Irish setter.

Fran Pratt

Pittsfield