Mitt loses game of 'Fetch A Sketch'

By: Daisy

For dogs, and for presidential candidates, life can't be all fun and games.
On Saturday I went to Singing Beach in the town of Manchester-by-the-Sea with my human friends Rich and Laura. I enjoyed pressing my paws into the soft sand, getting in a little beach running, and navigating the rocks reminiscent of the Scottish Highlands that are the ancestral turf of us Westies. While on the rocks, I noticed some of the other dogs on the beach were playing "fetch" with their human companions ... even splashing into the water to pursue whatever stick or doggy toy got tossed into the sea.
Well, last Wednesday, one of Mitt Romney's advisers, Eric Fehrnstrom, made reference to another type of toy -- the Etch A Sketch, which kids use for drawing. (You can see a photo of it here.) This is how Fehrnstrom described the difference between the primary season and the general election campaign:

Everything changes ... It’s almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and restart all over again.

Now, in general, I'm not one for toys. I don't play with squeaky rubber bones ... I don't chase tennis balls ... and when Rich has tried to get me to fetch a stick, well, I just look quizzically at it. (I do know one doggy trick -- how to "shake hands.") I would add, with all modesty, that this shows I possess a certain degree of maturity. At the beach, for instance, while other dogs played fetch, I attended to more serious issues, patrolling the rocks and making sure no bigger canines came too close to Rich, Laura and myself (although it was nice to say hi to a friendly Tibetan terrier about my size).
Being a leader is a little like me standing on that rock; you have to look out for everyone else. And while it does help to show you have a lighthearted side, leadership certainly does not mean treating issues like toys you can just "shake up," but rather as serious subjects.
Mitt and his staff learned these lessons the hard way after losing the Louisiana primary to former Sen. Rick Santorum on Saturday. About 20 percent of voters reported the Etch A Sketch comment influenced their decision ... and that 20 percent largely supported Santorum. Even though Louisiana is the land of Mardi Gras madness, its residents surely remember how bad Republicans are when they act irresponsibly, like former President George W. Bush when he fumbled the response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
So it is time for Mitt to put away the toys and act like a grownup. Playing "Fetch A Sketch" is a game that he can only lose.

PS - Thank you to Laura for suggesting the name for this column.

Daisy is a 9-year-old West Highland white terrier living in Cambridge, Mass. Her column appears regularly.