It's the story that continues to, well, dog Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney. And, according to some experts, it could jeopardize his standing with voters who care about animals. And yes, it turns out, that is not an insignificant voting bloc.





The incident happened back in 1983, and it's been public since 2007.





The dog story was told by a Romney son and published by The Boston Globe as part of a multipart series on the former Massachusetts governor. The anecdote was intended to highlight his problem-solving skills.





All of this has been chronicled with a hint of a smile by Scott Crider, a social media specialist from Gulf Shores, Ala., who founded the blog Dogs Against Romney.





But Crider, whose blog today has received millions of hits and sells bumper stickers and T-shirts with catchy slogans like "Mitt Is Mean" and "I Ride Inside," says he wasn't smiling when was moved to start the blog back in 2007.





At a recent pet expo at the Maryland State fairgrounds, most of those who had heard the story had pretty much the same reaction.





Not everyone was convinced that how Romney treated Seamus is an example of how he'd act as president. "I don't know whether I'd vote for him or not, but I don't think that would be an issue," said T-shirt vendor Kevin Crocker.





But Romney's opponents clearly see the story as a potential weakness. Newt Gingrich used Seamus in one of his attack ads against Romney, and has launched a "Pets with Newt2012" Web page.





And David Axelrod, President Obama's campaign communications director, recently tweeted a picture of first dog Bo riding inside the presidential limousine with the president and the caption "how loving owners transport their pets."





About the only good news for Romney and his dog story? Last year President Obama got only a C minus from the Humane Society for his work helping animals.





http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/02/15/146929766/why-romneys-shaggy-dog-story-wont-die

Quoted:


Mitt gave my dog cancer. We put him(the dog) down a couple of weeks ago.