DOG BITES MAN'S CAMPAIGN

"Romney's treatment of family dog on 1983 vacation becomes issue," blares the Boston Globe, which first publishd the anecdote that is now becoming surgically attached to the Mitt Romney persona: How he put his dog in a carrier with a homemade windshied, strapped it to the roof of his car and set off on a 12-hour trip with one unscheduled stop when the dog's diarrhea ran down the back of the car.

Although PETA is doing its damnedest to blunt the effect by making this into yet another PETA story, the dog issue does seem to be gaining some traction, largely because it plays into discomforts that many already have with the Romney persona. One liberal blogger calls it "classic Romney: It solves a problem efficiently, in a business-like manner, and with no regard whatsoever for the suffering that the solution may cause." Heh. Meanwhile, over on the right side we get: "In Romney’s defense, however, I’d note that the incident took place over twenty-five years ago. Goodness knows, his views on dog travel have certainly changed half a dozen times in the interim." Yowch. Could be some "ruff" riding ahead for Mitt.