While there are those benighted souls who think the ensuing general election campaign will be about issues such as economic policy or foreign affairs, the real campaign began last week with Hilary Rosen’s comment that Ann Romney “never worked a day in her life.” The Romney campaign, true to its long standing policy of never letting reality get in the way of an opportune political shot, erroneously described Rosen as a Obama “advisor,” and attempted to ratchet up the debate by saying it was Obama, not the Republican Party, that had launched the real “war on women.” Let’s set aside for a minute whether an ill-advised comment by a previously unknown Democrat is equivalent to a potential Romney Vice-Presidential candidate being in favor of mandating vaginal probes prior to a woman exercising a constitutionally protected right to an abortion, Ann Romney’s lack of work outside her home is not one of our nation’s most pressing problems.
This week brings us the next great issue. The Daily Caller, a right-leaning site revealed the startling information that Barack Obama has eaten dog. This revelation, jumped on with considerable gusto by the Romney campaign, is intended to deflect criticism of the Republican nominee-to-be’s driving from Boston to Canada with the family dog riding on the roof of the car. What’s the source for this scoop? Uhh … actually it is Obama’s book Dreams from My Father in which he described living in Indonesia as a child. Again, setting aside the inanity of this factoid as newsworthy, why is the Romney campaign reminding (or informing) people of one of the true embarrassments from their candidate’s personal life? Unless you are a reader of Gail Collins’ column, this is a topic you may never have encountered. And how does a meal of a child living in a foreign country equate with the actions of an adult engaging in behavior that borders on animal abuse?
Stay tuned for next week’s dramatic news story.
Tom Noonan 