Now we're getting sensible. Finally. How a party's presidential candidate treats his dog may determine whether he gets nominated. I'm pretty sure there are plenty of Americans who'd rather see Seamus nominated, but that's not an option. Yet.
Late-night host David Letterman has been giving the dog near-nightly shout-outs. There are parody Web videos, “Dogs Aren’t Luggage” T-shirts and Facebook groups. (“Dogs Against Romney,” which protested outside last month’s Westminster dog show, has more than 38,000 Facebook fans.) The New Yorker featured a cartoon, with Rick Santorum riding in Romney’s rooftop dog carrier, on its cover last week. In the five years since the story was revealed, New York Times columnist Gail Collins has mentioned Seamus in at least 50 columns.
On Wednesday, the top campaign adviser to Santorum injected the dog into the already bitter Republican presidential race.
In response to a question on CNN about Romney’s criticism of an ad being aired by a super PAC supporting Santorum, John Brabender said, “Quite frankly, I’m not sure I’m going to listen to the value judgment of a guy who strapped his dog to the top of the roof of his car and went hurling down the highway.” ...WaPo
The Washington Post appears to be defending Romney.
Romney did not simply strap Seamus to the roof. He attached a dog carrier to the roof rack of the family’s Chevrolet station wagon — the “white whale,” as his boys called it — and assembled a shield to protect Seamus from the highway winds. ...WaPo
But that explanation doesn't wipe out the perception of Romney's cruelty and idiocy. It just adds the picture of a man who's more than a little nutty.
Thanks, Mr. Romney, but we already have a president. Even a Republican would have to admit the incumbent knows how to treat a best friend.
