If you’re just tuning in, Ann Romney says that the Romney family dog liked riding on the roof of their car. The dog cage, Romney supporters say, had a windshield or something.The left has had a field day with this. But then the Romney campaign struck back. Barack Obama is a dog eater. Well, he was as a boy. The weed and cocaine tries were in high school and college. Eating dog was in his youth. All are documented in his autobiography, Dreams of my Father.This caused a stir on twitter with conservatives participating in a twitter hashtag game: #ObamaDogRecipes. My personal contributions were Escar-Bo and Bo Mein. I was pretty fond of Hound Cake and German Shepard Pie too.You’d think we’d have dealt with all of this on both sides four years ago, but alas the media didn’t really want to aggressively vet Barack Obama in 2008 and Mitt Romney didn’t make it past March.Perhaps there is a war on dogs. One thing I am certain of is that there is a war on levity.

Both sides have decided to dial up the outrage to 11 on a one to ten scale for some pretty small things and some large. I am not sure either side will see voters turn out wholesale in November. Everyone is going to be burned out on the outrage.One of the things that made Ronald Reagan such a successful politician — Bill Clinton too — was the ability to laugh at the slights and insults of others. Both Reagan and Clinton could take someone’s attack and turn it around into a punchline. It was both refreshing and endearing. It is badly needed this go round.Neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney seem to have very optimistic messages. There is little light hearted rhetoric. Both men would have you know that the other will destroy the country.We can fight the war on women, war on men, war on jobs, war on dogs, and every other war if we must, but the nation could really use something more than demagoguery on the road to November. At this point, I think my prediction is pretty simple — the public will choose the man with the thicker skin.