Replies

By Jeanne Moos New York (CNN) - Mitt Romney's dog Seamus may have passed away years ago, but his story keeps getting resurrected.

It's the "dog-on-car-roof" ruckus revisited, and it has Republicans barking at each other.

Like most dogs, Mitt Romney says his dog Seamus liked fresh air.

He's getting plenty of airtime now thanks to New Gingrich's anti-Romney ad dredging up the old dog-in-the-kennel-on-the-car-roof story.

"We had five kids inside the car. My guess is he liked it a lot better in the kennel than he would have liked it inside," said Romney.

There's even a web site "Seamus 2012" that pretends it's Seamus speaking from doggie heaven. The original story was written by Boston Globe reporters back in 2007.

Writer Neil Swidey confirmed details of the story with Romney family members.

Way back in 1983 the Romneys piled into their station wagon for a 12 hour trip to Canada with the dog in his kennel on the roof.

Keep in mind, Romney had built a special windshield for the kennel, so when he put Seamus the dog up there on the roof, he was protected from the wind.

At some point, one of Romney's sons yelled to his dad that a brown liquid was dripping down the back window.

"To me, Mitt Romney treated his dog like a mattress or Christmas tree," said Swidey.

There were comments from Howard Stern, and a parody song on YouTube. There's even a re-imagined Hitler parody using a scene from downfall.

Anti-Romney demonstrators have popped up with stuffed dogs on car roofs, but the writer of the original article thinks the most interesting angle has been missed.

:When the dog is in distress, Mitt Romney pulls off the side of the road, into gas station, borrows a hose, washes it down and then puts dog back up there," said Swidey.

As he wrote, "it was a tiny preview of a trait he would grow famous for in business: emotion-free crisis management. CNN

Email correction from Boston Globe’s Neil Swidey:

From: Swidey, Neil
Sent: Sunday, January 15, 2012 9:24 AM
To: jimrob@psnw.com
Cc: Swidey, Neil
Subject: Request from Boston Globe

Jim,

There’s an error in the forum of your site that I’d request that you correct. Someone has posted what is supposed to be the transcript to Jeanne Moos’ CNN report on Romney’s dog Seamus, which quotes me. But the transcript on your site wrongly attributes to me a quote that actually Howard Stern said in the piece.

This is the quote in question:
“To me, Mitt Romney treated his dog like a mattress or Christmas tree,” said Swidey.

It’s clear from both the CNN piece and the official transcript of it that Stern delivered that line.

I’ve tried hard with this Seamus story to call out exaggerations (as I point out in this piece I wrote on the subject last week: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/articles/2012/01/08/what_our_fascination_with_mitt_romneys_dog_seamus_says_about_our_culture/?page=full

So I feel it’s important that this error not be left uncorrected. I’ve included all the relevant links below.

Thanks for your help,
Neil

Here is the link on your site with the erroneous transcript:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2833004/replies?c=42

And here is the actual CNN piece:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr8G98ClnqA

Here is the actual transcript from Nexis:
BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like most dogs, Mitt Romney says his dog Seamus liked fresh air. Well, he’s getting plenty of airtime all right thanks to Newt Gingrich’s anti-Romney ad dredging up the old dog in the kennel on a car roof story.

MITT ROMNEY R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We had five kids inside the car, and my guess is he liked it a lot better in his kennel than he would have liked it inside.

MOOS: There’s even a Web site, Seamus 2012, that pretends it’s Seamus dog speaking from doggy heaven.

The original story was written by “Boston Globe” reporters back in 2007.

(on camera): I’m trying to think in dog years, how old is this story?

(voice-over): Writer Neil Swidey confirmed details of the story with Romney family members.

Way back in 1983, the Romneys piled into their station wagon for a 12- hour trip to Canada with the dog in his kennel on the roof.

ROMNEY: This is a completely airtight kennel.

(on camera): Keep in mind that Romney had built a special windshield for the kennel. So when they put Seamus the dog up here on the roof, he was protected from the wind.

(voice-over): At some point, one of Romney’s sons yelled, “Dad, gross!” A brown liquid was dripping down the back window, payback from an Irish setter who had been riding on the roof in the wind for hours.

HOWARD STERN, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: To me, Mitt Romney treated his dog like a mattress or a Christmas tree.

MOOS: There were comments from Howard Stern and a parody song on YouTube.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): And he tied me to the roof. He drove down the highway and then I pooped.

MOOS: There’s even a re-imagined Hitler parody using a scene from “Downfall.”

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, “DOWNFALL”: (SPEAKING GERMAN)

PARODY: What the hell was Romney thinking? Who cares if Seamus is an Irish setter and not a proud German Shepherd of the Reich?

MOOS: Anti-Romney demonstrators have popped up with stuffed dogs on car roofs. But the writer of the original article thinks the most interesting angle has been missed.

NEIL SWIDEY, WRITER, BOSTON GLOBE MAGAZINE: When the dog is in distress, Mitt Romney pulls off the side of the road into a gas station, borrows a hose, washes it down, and then puts the dog back up there.

MOOS: As Neil Swidey wrote, “It was a tiny preview of a trait he would grow famous for in business: emotion-free crisis management.”

STERN: It’s like “The Beverly Hillbillies.” And “The Beverly Hillbillies” treated the critters better — Elly May’s critters.

MOOS: Look where Duke the hound gets to sit.

IRENE RYAN, ACTRESS, “BEVERLY HILLBILLIES”: I ain’t budging out of this rocker. MOOS: And Granny’s in the Seamus position for shame.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)