Gingrich Ad Revives Romney’s Dog Debacle
Published at(ATLANTA) — Newt Gingrich is on the attack against Mitt Romney over his work at Bain Capital, his record as Massachusetts’ governor and now over how he treats his pets.
A web ad released on Wednesday by the Gingrich campaign revives the story of a Romney family road trip 25 years ago during which Romney strapped a dog carrier, with the family’s Irish setter Seamus inside, to the roof of his station wagon for the 12-hour drive from Boston to Ontario, Canada.
Word of Romney’s dog-on-the-roof road trip infuriated animal activists and pet owners during his 2008 White House bid after a Boston Globe story detailed the incident.
At a campaign event in South Carolina last week, a protester with a sign that read “Dogs Against Romney” greeted Romney supporters while standing next to a car with a stuffed animal dog strapped to the roof.
“This is a completely air-tight kennel, mounted on the top of our car,” Romney says in the ad, defending his dog placement in a Fox News clip. “He was in a kennel at home a great deal of time as well. It was where he was comfortable.”
The video then shows white words flashing across a black screen: “Imagine what Obama would do with a candidate like that.”
The ad, titled “For the Dogs,” includes six other clips of Romney’s most often-cited verbal gaffes including his “corporations are people too” argument at the Iowa state fair, his “I like to fire people” statement earlier this week, and his “$10,000 bet” from a GOP debate last month.
As of now, the ad will not air on television, Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond said.
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