This may be a case of dog-bites-robot (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)
Public Policy Polling (
PDF). March 15-17. RVs. ±3.3%. (No trend.)
In general, do you think it is humane to put your family dog in a kennel on the roof of your car for a long car trip, or do you think that is inhumane?
Humane: 14
Inhumane: 68
Not sure: 18
Mitt Romney once strapped his dog’s kennel to the roof of his car for a long car trip. Does this make you more or less likely to vote for him, or does it not make a difference?
More likely: 7
Less likely: 35
Doesn't make a difference: 55
Not sure: 2
Mitt Romney's problem here isn't just that one-third of voters say they are less likely to vote for him after hearing about
his dog-on-car story, but it's also that two-thirds of them believe it is inhumane to put strap the family dog in a kennel on the roof of your car for a long road trip. Every single time this story comes up between now and November, voters will be reminded that Mitt Romney did something that they believe is inhumane. And how many people want to vote for a president they believe is capable of taking inhumane actions with the family pet?
Romney's problem is especially bad with women: 42 percent said the story made them less likely to vote for Romney compared with 28 percent among men. Seventy-four percent of women said what Romney did was inhumane while 62 percent of men said it was inhumane. Even 17 percent of Republicans said the story made them less likely to vote for Romney and 63 percent of them said it was inhumane.
President Obama, meanwhile, gets positive reviews for his treatment of dogs. His favorable rating on treatment of dogs is +30 compared with -9 for Mitt Romney. And by a nearly 2:1 margin, voters think he would be better for dogs than Romney. Here's those numbers:
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Barack Obama's treatment of dogs?
Favorable: 44
Unfavorable: 14
Not sure: 42
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Mitt Romney's treatment of dogs?
Favorable: 20
Unfavorable: 29
Not sure: 51
Who do you think would be a better President for dogs: Barack Obama or Mitt Romney?
Obama: 37
Romney: 21
Not sure: 42
Last week, a Romney adviser
said the campaign was counting on high unemployment to trump the dog-on-car story. But given that President Obama already has a better private sector jobs record than President Bush, that dog don't hunt.