By Rafalca Romney, Mitt Romney’s Horse

Greenwich Gardens — Will the real Mittens Romney please stand up?

Standing. On all four of my glossy, chestnut-colored legs. And I have been. Since my drastically underhyped performance in the London 2012 Olympic Games. Sure, I may not have earned a gold in dressage, but last I checked I’m not the only Romney who dropped the ball recently.

Look Willard, we’re not so different. I get what it’s like to be unlikeable. I’m German. My sire’s name is Rubinstein. Your wife named me Rafalca. I have an incredibly pretentious, potentially racist name, my father sounds like a comic-book villain, and I’m from the least liked country on Earth. We could have been friends Willard. We could have.

Really though, even I can’t look at your presidential campaign, and say “atta boy,” and offer you some oats. Not only could I have done a better job checking Paul Ryan’s math by stamping my left hoof, but I probably could have conveyed a better understanding of the American tax-bracket breakdown based on my observations of barnyard social structure.

At the end of the day, Willard, and I will call you Willard because EVERYONE KNOWS THAT ANNE ONLY CALLS ME MITTENS, you stole my thunder. 2012 should have been my year. I was the one who went to the Olympics, and all I got to be was your most famous tax deduction. And the worst part: do you know why I only have three white socks above my perfectly-groomed, competition-ready hooves? Because Barack Obama took my fourth one to give to an overweight, underpriviledged Clydesdale.

Way to stumble mid-piaffe, Willard. I’ll fit in better with donkeys anyways.

ATLANTA, EVANSTON, and DES MOINES — An anonymous Northwestern student-watchdog group has alerted the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) about a potentially deadly disease called “Face AIDS.” According to the a statement from the CDC, the previously unknown disease has in the last month spread all over the Northwestern campus.

Little is known about the disease, but already an awareness campaign has started in the form of flyers around the campus, prompting the CDC to advise: “At this point, there is insufficient evidence to determine whether this is a mutation of the AIDS virus that has become faceborne, or if this is another virus altogether. What we do know is that more than a few flyers will be necessary to take down Face AIDS.”

Flyers about Face AIDS were placed by the newly-created student group “Face Face AIDS,” whose mission statement is “To make so many people aware of Face AIDS, that it gets really shy and embarrassed and just disappears.”

“It’s like those pink ribbons you see,” elaborated Face Face AIDS founder Steve Joplin. “If enough people see pink ribbons, and know that breast cancer exists, then breast cancer simply disappears because it gets very self-conscious that so many people know about it. We’re just hoping to do the same for Face AIDS.”

The Face Face AIDS group’s efforts have already been successful. Due to the proliferation of “Face AIDS” signs at Northwestern University, President Obama pledged to eradicate the Face AIDS plight from the United States.

“Face AIDS is a serious problem,” President Obama said at a stump speech in Iowa earlier this week, pointing out that his comprehensive healthcare overhaul covered Face AIDS.

“While I’ve been at the forefront of the Face AIDS epidemic, where has Governor Romney been?” the president asked. “That man is clearly out of touch with the issues that affect every day Americans.”

Warned Mr. Obama, “You can get them from kissing, hugging, or voting Republican.”

NEW YORK CITY — New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg publically endorsed President Obama last Thursday, saying the effects of Hurricane Sandy reshaped his thinking of the presidential campaign. While many Democrats welcomed the New York mayor’s support, Obama was less than enthusiastic about the statement. The implication that Bloomberg was previously unsure of his vote, or even possibly considering to vote for the Romney/Ryan ticket, definitely shook their friendship to its very core.

An inside source told The Flipside, “Barack is quite upset about Mike’s comments. He thought that they were really close friends, even bros. The fact that Mike’s decision came down to global warming and not Barack’s awesome basketball stories is very disappointing to the President.” The President’s emotions have affected his campaign. A campaign staffer who wished to remain anonymous revealed, “Barack toured New Jersey with Governor Chris Christie to make Bloomberg jealous. He wanted to appear all buddy-buddy with Chris, just to show the mayor that he doesn’t need him.”

Although Bloomberg did not publicly endorse a candidate in 2008, the President believed that his friend would wholeheartedly support him. Bloomberg’s additional comment, that Obama has “engaged in partisan attacks and embraced a divisive populist agenda focused on redistributing income rather than creating it,” definitely was a blow to their relationship. The President took it personally.

Barack’s subsequent erratic behavior has been trying on his staff and supporters. With the election finally at a close, his campaign advisers are hoping that he can pull it together. Even though they removed all of the Ben & Jerry’s from the campaign bus, they have still been finding candy wrappers and empty Doritos bags. The staffer revealed in an exclusive interview that Barack is “…taking it really hard. We told him that it’s not a big deal, that Mayor Bloomberg is just the mayor of only one city in the country, but he won’t listen to us.”

Governor Christie, in response, said that he would do anything for his new pal. “If Mike fucks with Barack again,” claimed Christie, “I’ll eat him.”

FACEBOOK –- Following your decision to watch a Presidential debate and post a Facebook status in support of your preferred candidate, area man William Burton, whom sources indicate you dimly remember from your days in summer camp, has already left three lengthy comments on your original post detailing exactly how and why you are a propaganda-spewing shill for an illegitimate political movement.

Burton began his tirade by telling you how “disappointed” he was to see you supporting a rival politician to his own, as he had “always considered you smarter than that” and was disheartened to see you “falling for such an obvious narrative of lies hook, line, and sinker.”

When you attempted to diffuse the situation with humor, light-heartedly pointing out a recently publicized gaffe made by Burton’s chosen candidate, Burton reportedly flew into a fit of rage, furiously typing that said gaffe was “completely taken out of context,” and was “further proof that [your candidate]’s campaign is run on empty ad hominem attacks meant to disguise a lack of feasible policy.”

Sources state that Burton then linked you to the heavily polarized homepage of a SuperPAC, instructing you to watch a carefully-edited, high-budget “documentary” of disparaging comments made by your candidate, telling you he hoped that this would “finally open your eyes.”

Sensing the opportunity for intelligent political discourse, Dan Gibson, an avid Ron Paul supporter, posted his own carefully crafted treatise on the merits of limited government: RON PAUL 2012!!!!!

As of print time, Gibson has resumed studying for his tenth grade Chemistry test. You are unsure why you added a friend’s little brother to your Facebook social network.

EVANSTON – Newly elected representatives of Allison’s Hall Government have vowed to eliminate the dorm’s dastardly culture of constant intoxicated debauchery. Social Chair Cam Speller stated, “Residents were tired of the way Allison was, two people drunkenly stumbling down a hallway at midnight, occasional noise past 10 PM… I ran on the promise to change that.”

Residents agreed; Weinberg freshman Max Turning of the second floor commented, “We thought that having strict CSOs would solve this problem; unfortunately, Allison is just too social. Whenever there are more than two people in the lounge, it becomes a huge deal.”

McCormick sophomore John Xiao lamented, “I lived in Bobb last year and moved here because I heard that Allison was a great place to get work done. I was so disappointed to find that occasional hallway conversations still distract me from my problem sets on Saturday nights.”

Allison was designed to be not just like a hotel aesthetically, but socially as well. Weinberg Freshman Julia Cameron said, “I liked the idea of Allison because I heard the doors were impossible to prop open. I didn’t know I’d have to deal with running into people in the bathroom in the morning. It’s too much interaction for me to handle; personally, I’d rather live in NMQ.”

EVANSTON – Students across the Northwestern campus were stunned to find out that fairly-counted votes for student government positions would be re-counted by Jeb Bush in order to determine the real winners. “The Allison presidential position looked like a landslide victory,” admitted resident Brad Turner, a Weinberg freshman, “but it’s always good to have the trustworthy Jeb Bush re-count for us!”

Other students, though, weren’t too thrilled with Bush being in charge of the re-count. “I just think he’s done enough fucked up things for this country, and for once, I just want to be able to have an election without feeling like it’s fixed,” said McCormick sophomore Billy McPhee. He later added he couldn’t vote in the real presidential elections because apparently student IDs could be fraudulent.

Mr. Jeb Bush himself tried to dismiss suspicions of any lack of integrity during the re-count, saying, “I have no family at Northwestern, so no one has to worry about any sort of bias.” Mr. Bush was later heard telling close friends and family that he was itching to re-count a ballot and recalling his impressive performance during the 2000 presidential election.

David Anderson, a Medill sophomore and Bobb-McCullough Vice-Presidential candidate, thought he had won his election, so he took all of his friends out to Burger King. “You could see his mood change, and at first we didn’t know what it was. Then he showed us the e-mail telling him Mr. Bush would be re-counting all the elections, and his heart sank,” his friend confided.

“It’s just so unfortunate, you know? He’ll probably cry about how the bubble next to my name was ambiguous. I might as well make a concession speech. Although, I’ll probably have weeks before the outcome is official,” David lamented.

Though no longer in office, after his Northwestern gig, Mr. Bush has plans to fly down to Florida on what he called “official business.”

WASHINGTON – A landmark ruling on the legality of “Obamacare” has ended in unexpected compromise. Liberal and conservative factions of the Supreme Court have agreed to allow Americans to choose for themselves between extensive affordable healthcare coverage or a succulent medium-rare quarter-pound cheeseburger. According to Gallup polls, voters are unsure of whether to claim their burger now or wait for secondary rulings on French fry and soft-drink inclusion.

Presidential candidate Rick Santorum has already seized the ruling as campaign material. “This is our chance to defeat the insidious ‘Obamacare’ once and for all!” Santorum thundered at a GOP rally. “Go forth and claim your coupons! Tell Obama that we will not allow death panels or big government to decide our health! Only we have the right to absolutely wreck our bodies!” An aide brought a Republican-endorsed Big Mac up to the stage.

“Hear that sizzle? Savoring that smell? Just look at how juicy this fucker is,” Santorum said, spending the next five minutes enjoying his snack in silence as an increasingly hungry audience began to wander out of the auditorium.

Alexander Edmunds, a local under-employed musician, has found the decision quite difficult.

“I haven’t had health insurance since I was a child,” Edmunds told a group of reporters as he strummed his acoustic guitar in a nearby park. “I just can’t afford it on a musician’s salary. Do I deserve to die for it?”

“So, I take it you’ll be supporting the Obamacare initiative, then?” a CNN correspondent asked.

“Well, I was really hoping to get this cough checked out,” Edmunds answered. “But then I found out the coupon was redeemable at Five Guys. So, maybe next election year.”

DES MOINES – Last Tuesday, Iowans gathered in gyms, homes, and other buildings across the state to discuss who their favorite old white guys were.

Herds of people thronged in and around buildings. They stood around and talked for a while. Some people waved signs with pretty decorations. There was a lot of shouting. Then they wrote a name on a piece of paper and left. This name was the name of their favorite old white guy.

The old white guy who had the most people write that he was their favorite was declared the winner.

At some points, the discussion became intense argument; no one was injured, though there were reports of bruised feelings.

A mere five old white guys seemed to capture the favor of the majority of Iowans, which is rather remarkable considering how many old white people there are in Iowa. A few of the five leaders didn’t look all that old, actually, and these younger old white guys appeared to have the strongest support. However, opponents of each old white guy were fiercely mistrustful, and no single white guy captured more than a quarter of the Iowans’ favoritism.

The old white guys were reportedly seen at various points around the state preceding the gatherings. Eyewitnesses claim that one was overweight, another was short with a piping voice, one was wearing flip-flops, one was described only as “frothy,” whatever that means, and one seemed rather forgetful. None of the old white guys appeared to be from Iowa, which is maybe why the Iowans were so reluctant to choose one as their favorite.

A few people voiced their support for a youngish white woman, but these people were ridiculed by fellow Iowans, as they evidently misunderstood the purpose of the gatherings.

EVANSTON – The Northwestern University student body recently elected Austin Young as 2011-12 President of the Associated Student Government (ASG). Young ostensibly garnered many votes because of his chosen running mate, the popular Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town.

While Austin vocally supported policies including better communication between ASG members and the implementation of systems designed to make students’ voices heard, Ash ran on the platform of dissolving the Team Rocket fan club and allowing all students to select Pikachu as their starters.  Now that Ash has been elected to this office, he has made some more promises. “I want a Master Ball for every trainer and a Magikarp in every home,” Ketchum said in a press conference this Monday. Ash has also decided to make Professor Oak his Technologies Supervisor, a position he will create upon taking office.

Yet the new VP is already stirring up controversy. In the press conference, Ash made it abundantly clear that he refuses to work with any trainers who use Ghost-type Pokemon.  Earlier he stated “Guys, you know I’m all about diversity. I think all Pokemon were created equal as much as the next guy, but come on. Ghost Pokemon are just plain cheap.  You can’t use any physical attacks against them.  I just won’t stand for it any longer.”

When asked for his stance on the Living Wage campaign, Ash responded, “Living wage? Pokemon don’t need any money.  All they need is love, food, and shelter.  Sometimes only one of three.”