As campaign launches go, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s was conventional until it became unconventional. Cathy Justice kicked off her husband’s Senate run announcement by introducing Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV). To drive home the point that the GOP powers that be in the upper house have made their choice, she then introduced Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who got right to the point of the festivities: “This is the highlight of my life,” South Carolina’s senior senator admitted. “I get to introduce … Babydog.”

Babydog, for the uninitiated, is the Justice family’s ever-present English bulldog, described by Jim as “a 60-pound brown watermelon.” Graham leaned into the moment, no doubt wanting a better crowd response than he got solely by being Lindsey Graham: “I’ve been with presidents, kings, and potentates, but I met Babydog and Babydog’s a winner and Babydog is going to the Senate — might as well take Jim and Cathy with her.” The crowd, as all crowds do, popped big for Babydog.