House Republican Vice Chairman Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) distributed a glossy "member profile" of DeLay last week, gushing about DeLay's role in foster parenting, his run-in with an errant quail hunter, his love of jazz and his affections for his bichons fris[é]s , Baily and Taylor, and his miniature dachshund, Scooter.

--Washington Post today

One other thing I probably should tell you, because if I don't they'll probably be saying this about me, too. We did get something, a gift, after the election. A man down in Texas heard Pat on the radio mention the fact that our two youngsters would like to have a dog. And believe it or not, the day before we left on this campaign trip we got a message from Union Station in Baltimore, saying they had a package for us. We went down to get it. You know what it was? It was a little cocker spaniel dog, in a crate that he had sent all the way from Texas, black and white, spotted, and our little girl Tricia, the six year old, named it Checkers. And you know, the kids, like all kids, love the dog, and I just want to say this, right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we're gonna keep it.

--Vice President Richard M. Nixon, speech to the nation, September 23, 1952


(Via The Plank.)