Babydog on the trail and a hiss-terical ad: an offbeat US campaign week

A bulldog hits the campaign trail for Donald Trump, a Democrat portrays her opponent as a CGI snake, and a state-level candidate embraces the certainty of defeat.

Here's a look at the lighter side of the US election over the past week.

- Babydog bump -

Republican West Virginia Governor Jim Justice took a special guest on the stump: his pet canine, Babydog.

Justice and Babydog joined a "Team Trump Road Trip" in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania.

It's not the 60-pound (27-kilogram) English Bulldog's first outing for Trump -- she also stole the show when appearing on stage at the Republican National Convention in July.

- Fast food nation -

What do campaign staffers and candidates eat to fuel themselves through all-nighters?

The Washington Post has a comprehensive analysis of Federal Election Commission filings.

"For Trump, the answer is frequently McDonald's," it reported. "His campaign is responsible for virtually all the $35,900 federal candidates have spent at the fast food chain since January 2023."

Republicans outspent Democrats at fast food restaurants by about 18-to-1.

- 'Training to lose' -

It's not often a candidate is willing to embrace failure. Well, North Carolina's Kate Barr is no ordinary candidate, running for a state senate seat she believes she cannot possibly win.

"I've been training to lose this Senate race for all of my life," she said, adding the district she is running in "is so gerrymandered that I don't stand a chance."

Barr hopes her campaign will shine a light on gerrymandering -- the biased redrawing of constituencies to favor a political outcome.

- 'Slithering' Scott -

"Florida's biggest snake isn't in the Everglades -- he's in the US Senate," says Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Democrat running for a Senate seat.

Her attack ad portrays the face of her opponent Rick Scott -- a former governor of Florida -- on the body of a CGI snake, slithering across a tree branch, through a hospital ward and into the Senate.

- Well, shoot -

Kamala Harris's running mate Tim Walz has long been an avid hunter.

But this week the pro-Trump National Rifle Association (NRA) shared a video supposedly showing Walz did not know how to correctly load a shotgun, accompanied by circus music.

Walz was, in fact, correctly unloading the weapon. After three hours of hunting, he didn't get close enough to a pheasant to let off a shot.