Florida’s Governor Adopted a Dog for the Campaign, Promptly Returned It From Whence it Came [View all]

[DonRedwood]

A dog can be a political double-edged sword: treat it well and you get lots of good press; treat it shitty and, well, just ask Mitt Romney how that worked out for him. Florida's Republican (and wildly unpopular) Gov. Rick Scott is the latest politician to fall victim to dog-loving media. The Tampa Bay Times reveals that shortly after being elected governor, the Scott family returned a rescue dog they had adopted during the campaign back to its previous owners. Yikes.

The Labrador, pictured above, was adopted shortly after Scott won the Republican primary in 2010. A picture of it was posted to Facebook, asking Scott's fans what the family should name its new pet. The winning name was, shock of all shocks, Reagan (keep in mind this was in the middle of the Tea Party's Reagan-nostalgia, rabble-rousing).

Recently, Florida reporters began to wonder why they hadn't seen First Family of Florida's Beloved Pet recently and started digging. They first reached out to Brian Burgess, who was Gov. Scott's communications director during his campaign:

Late Wednesday, Burgess testily emailed that he was working on an answer and recognized "the potential for a PR nightmare if the Tampa Bay Times doesn't receive a photo of Reagan next to today's copy of the Tampa Bay Times. So take it to the bank I'm getting you every bit of info I can lay my hands on.''

More at: http://gawker.com/5975949/floridas-governor-adopted-a-dog-for-the-campaign-promptly-returned-it-from-whence-it-came