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Romney's Treatment of Family Dog On 1983 Vacation Becomes [2008 Campaign] Issue
Boston Globe ^ | Friday, June 29, 2007 06:31 PM | James F. Smith

Posted on 06/30/2007 9:23:48 AM PDT by hardback

The Globe's disclosure this week that Mitt Romney put his Irish setter into a dog carrier on the roof of his station wagon for a 12-hour trip to Ontario in 1983 has become a surprising flashpoint in the presidential campaign.

TIME.com has been flooded with more than 200 comments from readers complaining of animal cruelty, YouTube viewers have posted videos, and hundreds of blogs are brimming with opinions.

For some, the story has become an occasion to consider larger issues of ethics and animal abuse. Romney, who has built an image as a strong manager, is now facing concerns about his ability to empathize with the less powerful, in this case, his dog, Seamus, riding atop his station wagon.

"I'll admit that I`m coming from a dog-centric point of view," Tucker Carlson, the conservative pundit, said Thursday on MSNBC. "But I'm feeling that maybe Mitt Romney lost my vote here. Do you need to be a PETA member to be disturbed by the fact that this guy put a dog on the roof of his car? Does that bother you?"

For some critics, the answer was yes.

Family members told the Globe that Romney attached a special windshield onto Seamus' carrier to protect him from the wind. Romney was traveling that summer with his wife, five sons, and Seamus to his parent's cottage on Lake Huron.

But hours into the ride, Seamus apparently suffered diarrhea, which ran down the back window of the car. Romney's sons, all under 13, howled in disgust. Romney pulled off the road into a service station. There, he borrowed a hose, washed down Seamus and the car, and they drove on to Ontario.

(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Massachusetts; US: Utah
KEYWORDS: canada; desperatedems; mittromney; romney; seamus; utah
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To: hardback

Hillery-Rotten gets away with murder (possibly literally!) and we’re supposed to be repulsed by *THIS*? Give me a break.


41 posted on 06/30/2007 11:06:20 AM PDT by Fudd Fan (Don't you worry, never fear, FDT will soon be here. http://www.imwithfred.com)
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To: hardback

Has Time bothered to raise up any “old” issues any time Ted Kennedy seeks political limelight?

Or is that best left dead and buried?


42 posted on 06/30/2007 11:11:36 AM PDT by weegee (If the Fairness Doctrine is imposed on USA who will CNN news get to read the conservative rebuttal)
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To: Tall_Texan

The media doesn’t use LBJ’s treatment of his dog ages ago as a reason to STILL sully his name.


43 posted on 06/30/2007 11:14:25 AM PDT by weegee (If the Fairness Doctrine is imposed on USA who will CNN news get to read the conservative rebuttal)
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To: weegee

Well, LBJ has been dead for over 30 years and doesn’t plan to run for president anytime soon so that may be a factor.


44 posted on 06/30/2007 11:18:06 AM PDT by Tall_Texan (Global warming? Hell, in Texas, we just call that "summer".)
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To: hardback

Well, if my dog got the runs on car trips, I’d seriously think about keeping him out of the car. 1983? Is this the best they can do to smear Mitt?


45 posted on 06/30/2007 11:22:53 AM PDT by TheSpottedOwl (Head Caterer for the FIRM)
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To: TheSpottedOwl

Hey, Kennedy killed a woman in his car - at least the dog lived!


46 posted on 06/30/2007 11:27:30 AM PDT by DanTheAdmin (It's true.)
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To: indcons
You seem to have deduced quite a bit from the dog’s scat habits. Did you interview the dog or did you merely read its autobiography on DU?

Runny bowels are a common indicator of fear.....the term scared s**tless didn't come out of the blue....

Regarding DU....LOL...is that all ya got?

This happened many years ago. If the dog genuinely enjoyed it, as Mitt says...then so be it. I know hang glider pilots who have taken their dogs up and they did like it. Still....prima facie poo poo on the roof seems to indicate otherwise.

Mitt is moot though....Fred will sweep o'er the land like a mighty wave and Mitt will experience what is known in surfing as a "wipeout."

47 posted on 06/30/2007 11:28:03 AM PDT by HerrBlucher (Tack it up and shut em down Fred!)
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To: HerrBlucher

Sorry about the DU reference.

Re: Mitt he has bigger problems than his dog’s imagined travails.

The guy is now on the record for amnesty: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1858882/posts?page=5#5


48 posted on 06/30/2007 11:30:48 AM PDT by indcons (Please call and thank Sens. Sessions, DeMint, and Vitter. They deserve our praise and gratitude.)
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To: hardback
What? Mitt's dog was named Seamus?

Why, Mitt must have been or continues to be a PINK FLOYD fan! We cannot allow a PF fan to be president! Get the pitchforks and light the torches!**

**So we can "fork" the editors and burn down the offices of that worthless rag, The Boston Glob.

49 posted on 06/30/2007 11:36:15 AM PDT by Zman516 (socialists & muslims -- satan's useful idiots.)
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To: the gillman@blacklagoon.com

Romney loves America. What he did for the Olympics, he can do for America. Go, Mitt!


50 posted on 06/30/2007 11:40:22 AM PDT by Saundra Duffy (Romney Rocks!)
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To: hardback

I’m not a fan, but this is stupid, I bet the dog loved it.


51 posted on 06/30/2007 11:47:29 AM PDT by traviskicks (http://www.neoperspectives.com/Ron_Paul_2008.htm)
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To: the gillman@blacklagoon.com

yeah whatever. He didn’t push for that law. The dems passed it with a veto override majority. But I guess the NRA is leftwing according to you and their endorsement of his actions don’t matter. I just have to wonder what you think of Reagan’s support for the Brady bill. Maybe you think he was a commie turd too.


52 posted on 06/30/2007 11:51:15 AM PDT by DieselHoplite
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To: Saundra Duffy

Loves America so much he wants us to support a hundred sixty million mexicans.


53 posted on 06/30/2007 12:03:09 PM PDT by the gillman@blacklagoon.com (What would Beowulf do?)
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To: DieselHoplite

...Reagan’s support for the Brady bill. Maybe you think he was a commie turd too....

The Brady Bill was great for America, wasn’t it?

Reagan was seriously wrong to support that anti-Constitutional rubbish.


54 posted on 06/30/2007 12:04:40 PM PDT by the gillman@blacklagoon.com (What would Beowulf do?)
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To: hardback
This is silly beyond belief.

Only the democrap-controlled lamestream media could make an issue out of this.

BTW. Back in the '60s my dad had a station wagon, a tiny econo-car, and a big dog.

We moved frequently, "requirements of the service" (USMC).

At one point Dad was towing the little car behind the station wagon, the dog was in the towed car.

Hehe, that son-of-a-bitch put his paws on the steering wheel! This made for some interesting towing.

55 posted on 06/30/2007 12:07:57 PM PDT by LibKill (Bush betrayed conservatives on Immigration. NO support for Bush.)
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To: everyone

People who care more about this than about whether someone would make a good president are stupid beyond words. Unfortunately, that’s probably a lot of people.


56 posted on 06/30/2007 12:44:03 PM PDT by California Patriot ("That's not Charley the Tuna out there. It's Jaws." -- Richard Nixon)
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To: DanTheAdmin

Just seeing the name Kennedy makes me break out in hives!


57 posted on 06/30/2007 12:44:11 PM PDT by TheSpottedOwl (Head Caterer for the FIRM)
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To: TheSpottedOwl

Yeah, that too.


58 posted on 06/30/2007 12:44:47 PM PDT by California Patriot ("That's not Charley the Tuna out there. It's Jaws." -- Richard Nixon)
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To: California Patriot

This is just one more tale about a man who would make a terrible president.

But you need someone to make Bush look good, right?

Romney could be that man.


59 posted on 06/30/2007 1:59:28 PM PDT by the gillman@blacklagoon.com (What would Beowulf do?)
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To: the gillman@blacklagoon.com

Say what?


60 posted on 06/30/2007 4:06:16 PM PDT by California Patriot ("That's not Charley the Tuna out there. It's Jaws." -- Richard Nixon)
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