Influence Alley

Do you want to push a pro-cat agenda while influencing national politics? There's a new super PAC for that.

Enter the My Cat Xavier for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow super PAC. Anna Hornberger, a 27-year-old clinical psychologist Ph.D candidate at George Washington University, filed the group as a super PAC with the Federal Election Commission last week. She says the mission is to promote her cat Xavier and all cat-related causes. Oh, and as she puts it, "to point out the ridiculousness of unlimited donations given to politicians, their movements and campaigns" and see a reversal of the Supreme Court's ruling in the Citizens United case. But whatever. Tell us more about this cat!

Xavier is a 7-year-old "who grew up in hard times," Hornberger says. She met the cat while volunteering at an animal shelter, and his political outlook can vary depending on his feeding time. "Most of the time it's complete indifference to anything that's going on," Hornberger says. (He is supportive of prison reform, though. A cat with some substance.)

"He totally approves of the super PAC. He's finally getting the attention he so desperately deserves and craves," Hornberger says.

This isn't the first cat-related political cause. There's Cats for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, which started earlier this year, and Hank, a cat running for a Senate seat from Virgina. Hornberger says that she and Xavier will have to examine Hank's stances before throwing their support behind his run.*

Hornberger filed using Stephen Colbert's Super PAC Super Fun Pack, a $99 kit to start a super PAC, which has led to a number of similarly-wacky super PACs.

*Update: Hornberger and Xaiver have made up their minds about Hank's Senate run. "After careful deliberation, Xavier has decided to fully and officially endorse Hank the Cat for Senate!  We'll be keeping a close eye on the outcome of the race," Hornberger writes in an email.

Photo: Xavier the cat, looking very stately. Courtesy of Anna Hornberger