Petition seeks an honorary Senate seat for Virginia cat

A cat who came in third in the U.S. Senate race could take an honorary seat on the Senate floor, if enough people sign a White House petition.

The Obama administration has a special Web site called We The People, that allows citizens, in the spirit of the First Amendment, to petition the government with ideas.

Since Monday, the site has been swamped with petitions from Obama foes who want their states to leave the union, in protest of the president's re-election.

But among the slew of new petitions is a drive to get a honorary Senate seat for Hank the Cat, the feline who apparently finished third in last Tuesday's U.S. Senate race in Virginia.

Constitution Daily has reached out to Hank's campaign staff, to see if the cat has added to the 7,000 votes it received as a write-in candidate in Virginia. We are awaiting a response.

But if Hank wants an honorary spot in Congress, he'll need to get 25,000 signatures on his White House petition in the next 30 days.

Hank's petition is here on the White House site.

The site has been collecting petitions for a while, and White House staffers have written out 82 official responses to them.

So far, more than 70,000 online signatures are on a petition for the state of Texas to become an independent nation.

That's one of 16 current petitions that received 25,000 signatures that will trigger a written response from a White House representative. They include requests for Louisiana to leave the United States; a drive to let states have their own marijuana laws; and for laws to label genetically modified foods.

"Since the White House has never featured anything like this, we expect to make some adjustments to improve the platform based on how people use the system and your feedback," the site says, acknowledging that its petition-gathering process is far from perfect.

If web traffic numbers are any sign of future success, Hank has a good shot of at least getting a White House response to his petition.

Hank also stands a better chance of getting a political honor than do the residents of Texas and Louisiana who want independent states.

The whole idea of secession hasn't seen a lot of daylight since 1865.

The We The People site doesn't commit to responding to all petitions that cross its threshold limits.

"The White House will convene a regular meeting with representatives from all of the major policy offices (like the National Economic Council, Domestic Policy Council and others) that will review petitions that have crossed the signature threshold for a response. This group will help determine which policy office in the White House or federal agency should review and respond to petitions and ensure that petition responses are posted as quickly as possible," the site says.

It's also unclear that President Obama would have the power to appoint a cat, dog or human as an honorary senator.

That task could fall to Vice President Joe Biden, who is also the president of the Senate.

Bomboy is the editor-in-chief of the National Constitution Center.