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Political campaigns are known for their mud flinging ways. Personal attacks are expected. But food fights? That's uncharted territory that U.S. President Barack Obama tip toed in by joking about eating dog while growing up in Indonesia.
''As my step-father always told me: it's a boy-eat dog world out there,'' the President joked during the recent annual White House correspondents dinner. He followed that joke with another one. ''What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?,'' the President asked. ''A pit bull is delicious.''
The joke was clearly aimed at Republican Sarah Palin, who ran for vice-president back in 2008 and famously compared hockey moms and pitbulls during her campaign. President Obama's jokes provoked laughter at the Washington D.C. dinner but controversy on the internet. Headlines popped up calling the President's humor ''bizarre.'' But presidents are expected to make fun of themselves at the annual White House correspondents' dinner and Obama is certaintly not the first one to do so.
The watchdog group People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) weighed in on Obama's jokes about eating dog. In a statement to congressional newspaper The Hill, PETA said: ''President Obama's joke was obviously a play on Sarah Palin's well-known hockey mom/pit bull joke and isn't indicative of his love for dogs as family members.''
Obama is off the hook for now but with the presidential campaign in full swing one question remains: can we expect another political food fight?
