Mitt and his Dog Food Problem

 Dogs Against Romney







Gail Collins (world's funniest columnist) on the NY Time's op-ed page really likes to talk about Mitt Romney's Irish Setter, Seamus.  In fact if mention of Romney comes up in a column, mention (or more) of Seamus quickly follows.  Recently, she even devoted an entire column to the poor dog.  She probably should be seen as obsessing, but I prefer to think she is just trying to keep the dog-owner constituency energized for the Fall.

However, according to Paul Begala, it is safe for Collins to back off her obsession.  Begala, the chief strategist for Clinton-Gore in 1992, has a new column at the Daily Beast where he essentially argues that Romney is toast in the race:

Let me be the first to call on Mitt Romney to get out of the race. By placing third in Alabama and Mississippi, losing to Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich in both states, Romney has gone from inevitable to unelectable. Somebody strap him to the roof of one of his Cadillacs and drive him off to one of his many mansions.

One of the great legends of political consulting is the Dog Food Problem: an apocryphal tale of a company that had the best packaging, the best advertising, the best marketing. But there was only one problem: the dog wouldn't eat it. Forevermore we should no longer call it a Dog Food Problem. We should call it a Mitt Romney Problem.  . . . 

Before the polls closed on election day, the oh-so-smug millionaire  arrogantly dismissed the plucky former Pennsylvania senator, telling CNN's Wolf Blitzer that Santorum is a politician at the "desperate end" of his campaign. Instead, it was Romney and his team who were desperately trying to explain away their debacle in Dixie. . . . 

When will politicians learn that "electability" is not a compelling reason to vote for a presidential candidate? Hillary Clinton's campaign ran aground on the shallow shoals of "electability," and now Romney's yacht has done the same. Turns out that when you write "Surrender, Dorothy" across the sky, Dorothy actually doesn't surrender. In fact, it makes her even more determined to resist.