Two Minnesota turkeys went to Washington. Only one will leave with a presidential pardon.
The White House is leaving it up to social media to decide which of the two Minnesota birds -- Caramel or Popcorn -- will join President Obama in the Rose Garden Wednesday for the traditional Thanksgiving pardon.
To help the public with this weighty decision, the White House has set up a site to allow the nation's 317 million-member turkey pardon board to take a gander at both birds.
Visitors to the turkey Thunderdome can flip through photos of Popcorn and Caramel checking into their suite at the Willard Hotel and mugging for the White House press corps. The site offers features the turkeys' vital statistics: height, weight, gait, favorite food, favorite music (Lady Gaga and Beyoncé, respectively) along with recordings of their gobbles.
Decision made, visitors are encouraged to post #TeamCaramel or #TeamPopcorn to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. There is no third option for #TeamPardonThemBothYouHeartlessMonsters.
Caramel and Popcorn narrowly edged out a third, unnamed, flockmate to make it to Washington. The runner-up had his moment in the spotlight Monday in Gov. Mark Dayton's office and will be spending Thanksgiving as a featured entree at the St. Paul Salvation Army, where he and another donated bird are expected to feed at least 80 people.
