Would this influance your decision to vote for a particular politician? Taken from a Mitt Roomney article...

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

I was prompted to start this debate after reading Jennifer, Chloe & Myla's discussion post called:

Romney T-Shirts for sale!!!! (about DOGS)

http://dogsagainstromney.spreadshirt.com/

 

These are great!!!

 

I was intruged and read the replies and Sharon & Monty provided a link about why there is an entire website for dogs against Mitt Romney.

 

The premise behind these shirts relates to the story about him putting his dog on the roof of the car when he took his family on vacation. 

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/01/13/romneys-dog-on-car-roof-s...

 

I did Google the subject after reading this article and Holy Dog Biscuts there are a TON of discussions, media links, interviews, reports on the subject.  Here is one that I will include incase you don't want to leave the discussion to click on the link....................

 

"It might be unseemly to bring this up just as Mitt Romney celebrates his win in New Hampshire on Tuesday night and seems to be a strong front-runner for the GOP nomination. But the story of his putting his dog in a carrier on his car roof for a 12-hour family trip is spreading again on the Internet and disturbs me the more I learn about it.

And I am betting the more it gets out, the more votes Romney loses — red, blue and purple.

When, in a campaign debate, Romney opposed allowing a non-documented worker who has lived here for 25 years to stay and earn his way to citizenship, he struck me as heartless.

But when I read the story recently in greater detail about what Romney did to his Irish Setter, Seamus, that struck me as more than heartless — it struck me as downright cruel.

In brief, as the Boston Globe first reported in 2007, in 1983, Mitt Romney, then 36 years old, drove his station wagon packed with five sons and his wife on a 12-hour trip from Boston to Ontario, where his parents had a cottage on Lake Huron.

He took a dog carrier and attached it to the station wagon’s roof rack, built a special windshield, and put his dog Seamus into the carrier, where the dog remained for the 12-hour trip.

Was the dog distressed? Was it illegal under Massachusetts law as cruelty? There is some evidence that both are true.

During the trip, the Boston Globe reported, Romney’s oldest son, Tagg, looked around through the rear window and yelled, “Dad — gross!” A brown liquid was dripping down the back window — diarrhea from an animal that just might have been caused by the stress of being inside a cage for 12 hours on top of a car going 60 mph.

And what did Romney do, even after knowing of the dog's diarrhea? Did he realize that perhaps Seamus should be shown some mercy, cleaned up and allowed in the car, to sleep on someone’s lap?

No.

Here’s how the Globe described what Romney then did:

“As the rest of the boys joined in the howls of disgust, Romney coolly pulled off the highway and into a service station. There he borrowed a hose, washed down Seamus and the car, then hopped back onto the highway. It was a tiny preview of a trait he would grow famous for in business: emotion-free crisis management.”

Emotion-free crisis management??!

I love animals, especially dogs. I don’t like people who are cruel to animals. I am told it is illegal in Massachusetts to put an animal on a car roof while driving. Had I been the local sheriff, I would have arrested him.

But I am a forgiving person. If today Romney, looking back, were to say, “You know, in retrospect, that was a cruel thing to do to our dog — I was young, it was a long time ago, I am sorry” — if he said that today, I’d forgive him.

But instead — Romney being Romney — he defaults into saying something utterly implausible. He recently told Fox's dog-loving Chris Wallace that Seamus actually loved it up there!

He then told Wallace that the dog was in an "air-tight container," not mentioning the diarrhea.

Air-tight container??!

This is the ultimate Purple Issue — it cuts across Republicans, Democrats, blue states, red states, liberals and conservatives.

There are more than 78 million Americans who own one or more dogs — about two out of every five households. A Google search of "Romney Dog on Car Roof" brought me 1,080,000 results.

I don’t know how many of these 78 million dog owners (and thus, dog lovers) have yet heard or read about Romney doing this horrible thing, much less making his disingenuous claim that Seamus loved the experience on top of a speeding car for 12 hours, while his bowels turned to water.

But I’m thinking if this story gets out and stays out, there will be tens of millions of Google hits by next October. And I am also thinking that Romney is going to lose a lot of dog-lover votes on this issue alone, regardless of party or ideology.

Here’s one dog lover’s opinion — mine:

I think anyone who puts his dog in a cage on top of a car for a 12-hour drive and then deludes himself or tries to delude others that the dog really enjoyed it — to me, with all due respect, I feel such a man shouldn’t be president of the United States."

Lanny Davis is a Fox News contributor and the principal in the Washington D.C. law firm of Lanny J. Davis & Associates, which specializes in strategic legal crisis management. He served as President Clinton’s Special Counsel in 1996-98 and as a member of President Bush’s Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board in 2006-07. He is the author of the forthcoming book to be published by Simon & Schuster, "Crisis Tales -- Five Rules for Handling Scandals in Business, Politics and Life." He can be found on Facebook and Twitter (@LannyDavis).

[Lynda Kamrath]

So what is the debate?  If the dog really liked riding on the top of the car rather than inside on somebody's lap?  Or maybe it is if this story or the story about baptising Jews (who were not relatives) into the Mormon church posthumously caused Mr. Romney to lose the presidential nomination for the Republicans.  Actually, I think the arguments between Mr. Romney and Newt were enough to do them both in.  So what is the debate?

 

 

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

i think the debate is whether or not to vote for a politician based on how they treat animals.

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

Lol very good point Lynda. Trust me I am not a political person at all. I pay much closer attention to small local politics if any. Normally my vote is for what I deem the lesser of the evils.

My intent of the debate was - would a situation like this ( poor treatment of an animal) influence you not to vote for them or could you over look it. Whether it be Romney, Newt, Obama, etc. not making a difference. It made me wonder after reading this particular story.

For me I would have to be head over heels for a candidate on every single issue or that a candidate was for another issue that was near and dear to me to get past this. MEven then I don't think I could personally get passed it.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

I think all politicians, like all people, have flaws, and you need to consider the whole package. You are never going to find the perfect candidate for the job. I think it would have been a lot more pallatable if he had just said, yea it was a different time, I made a huge mistake, would never do it again, and then dropped a huge donation with the humane society or something, then the whole thing would have blown over. The fact that he can't admit a mistake speaks a lot about his character though, and that is not appealling to me.

That said, I'm Canadian. A certain politician in our country loves cats and his wife is a huge advocate of the humane society. They give a lot of money and support. And well, that kind of compassion is not necessarily reflected well in their actions in the political sphere or their party's policies...

So I say try to focus on the issues for which the politician will be implementing policies and over which he/she will have decision making power, and balance that with their character, and try to pick the best one for you. I wouldn't focus solely on one issue alone.

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

Great insight Sherri. I have a hard time getting past things hat I feel strongly about. Here it's always so much about being a Democrat or Republican. I personally would say I am definetly more conservative on a lot of issues but on others I go more liberally. I keep hoping they will come up with a party called "Peace, Happiness & Equality For All" but so far no go. I go with my heart where my DH bases his decisions like this on logic.

[Lynda Kamrath]

I think you  are right.  It is a character flaw.  The dog was his property and he felt that he could do what he wanted with the dog.  And besides, the dog LIKED riding on the roof for 12 hours.  It's just wrong.

[Lauria Orr]

I am usually pretty "middle of the road" in politics, and after the primary, will vote for a candidate based on their convictions and my ultimate trust in their decision making. I would NEVER vote for Mitt Romney after hearing about this story, and his response when confronted with it.  If a  person actually thinks this kind of treatment was enjoyable for a dog, I would not trust his interpretation of how his citizens react to decisions he makes as President Of The United States, nor would I trust his judgment on many important issues.

[Rose Coward]

That was a pretty bad idea.  But if I had to choose between a man who foolishly and negligently puts his dog in a roof rack for a trip versus someone who is for cutting up unborn children when their in their mothers womb.  I'd take the reckless dog guy any day.