Wednesday’s New York Times devoted a short “Caucus” article, “‘Seamus on the Roof’ Prompts Howls of Protest [1],” on a mocking protest against Mitt Romney by a “dozen people” representing the canine community, insulted by Romney's treatment of family dog Seamus, who he once strapped to the roof of the family station wagon on vacation. (The Times loves tiny liberal protests, but manages to completely ignore enormous conservative ones, such as those involving tens of thousands of pro-life activists marching in D.C [2].)
Columnist Gail Collins will be happy, given she is the media’s lead point-person on crate-gate, having mentioned the incident 28 times in her column through December 2011 [3].
Excerpts from the online version (the print version is shorter) by Emma Fitzsimmons and Nick Corasaniti:
Mitt Romney may have a new constituency to worry about: dogs and dog lovers.
The group “Dogs Against Romney” held a protest outside the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York on Tuesday afternoon to bring attention to the story of how 25 years ago, Mr. Romney drove from Boston to Canada on vacation with his dog, Seamus, in a carrier strapped to the roof of the family station wagon -- a tale that political commentators and opponents have seized on it as a window into Mr. Romney’s character. About a dozen people stood outside Madison Square Garden with signs reading “Mitt is Mean.”
Tate Hausman attended the protest with his dog, Sake, an 8-year-old pug.
“Certainly, this is a tongue-in-cheek event, but I’m definitely serious that I wouldn’t want someone who has that kind of judgment running my country,” he said.
As for his dog? “She’s not usually an activist, but this really hits her where she lives,” he said.
As for the dog tale, Mr. Romney said Seamus liked to ride that way, but others have said the tale exposed Mr. Romney’s callousness. Either way, the episode continues to spur revisions of the original narrative.
-- Clay Waters is Editor of the MRC's TimesWatch site.