The Seamus attack on Mitt Romney still lives on, and now through Rick Santorum’s campaign, for two days in a row.
On CNN Wednesday, John Brabender responded to Romney’s critique that Santorum is “at the desperate end of his campaign,” raising the spectre of the dog.
“I'm not sure I'm going to listen to a value judgment of a guy who strapped his own dog on the top of a car and went hurling down the highway,” he said.
On Thursday, Brabender said he is more than happy to criticize Romney on health care and the economy as well. But he wanted to react to Romney’s critique of the Santorum campaign—an attack he said went too far.
“I simply said, look, here's a guy who I'm not listening to his judgment, particularly his political judgment, about when anybody's campaign is going to end,” he told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports. “I sit there like every other American and say, ‘What the heck was he thinking, putting the dog on the top of the roof?’”
Brabender said Romney’s original comments show that he is upset with the way his campaign has run, and how he has not been able to secure the nomination yet.
“Clearly, there is a frustration with Governor Romney right now,” he said. “This isn't the campaign that they had planned out. This isn't going how it was supposed to go. I think there's some frustration. I think he's lashing out. And, frankly, in some ways, I think it's starting to look un-presidential.”
Since that infamous family vacation where Romney kept the family’s dog, Seamus, on the roof, the story has become political fodder for his opponents. It even made the cover of the New Yorker. But if the Seamus issue should be one of the focal points of the campaign, Brabender says, “No.” He argues, “That is not going to become the center, core issue of this campaign, nor should it.”
Get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox. Sign up for National Journal's morning alert, Wake-Up Call, and afternoon newsletter, The Edge. Subscribe here.
Leave A Comment