Allard says Romney the doggone right choice

Colorado's veterinarian hits the campaign trail by talking pets in Iowa

M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain News

Published July 2, 2007 at midnight

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DAVENPORT, Iowa - It might sound far-fetched, but the race for the White House could hinge on small talk about family dogs.

In the basement of a riverfront restaurant here Sunday evening, a Colorado Republican not named Tom Tancredo hopped on the presidential campaign trail.

He was retiring Sen. Wayne Allard, who met with a handful of attentive Davenport-area Republican activists over the dinner table to kick off a few days of stumping in eastern Iowa for his favorite GOP contender, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

But instead of playing Washington insider, Allard spent most of his time wearing his "country veterinarian" persona, going from person to person around the table and asking them to tell him about their family pets.

Later, Allard let us in on the secret to his political success all these years.

"You can talk about people's dogs without offending anybody, as a general rule," Allard said.

And the approach seemed to work, folks leaving the meeting said.

With his down-home charm and folksy demeanor, Allard convinced dinner-goers like Brock Earnhardt, 62, a utility company executive from Davenport, that there might be a softer side to the more intense Romney.

"Sen. Allard is pretty low-key," Earnhardt said. "For me, he puts a different perspective on Mitt Romney, who is high energy. The fact that Sen. Allard is so comfortable with Mitt Romney lets me know Mitt Romney must relax from time to time."

So it was mission accomplished on day one of Allard's visit, during which he'll pop in on small gatherings of party regulars, hoping to seal the deal for Romney, who currently leads polls in this important, first-in-the-nation presidential caucus state.

Since Romney has vaulted into the top tier of the presidential contest, he has gotten a bigger and bigger target on his back. Just Saturday, at a forum with five other contenders, he took fire for his perceived flip-flops on issues such as abortion.

Romney once described himself as "pro- choice," favoring abortion rights, although he had a much publicized change of heart about two years ago.

Allard, considered one of the more consistent conservatives in Congress, is here to tell Iowans that Romney is OK by him - on tax and budget issues, on family values issues, the whole gamut.

At Sunday night's low-key dinner, local chiropractor Sara Mesick asked Allard how Romney, who is Morman, can overcome skepticism from some evangelical Christians who have openly questioned the beliefs of his religion.

Allard said that if the campaign devolves into a fight over religion "there'd never be a Jew or you-name-it" who is elected to political office. He defended the values Romney has shown during his life and said, "If they carry your values, that's what it's all about."

This is the first time Allard has been on the campaign trail at this stage of a presidential election. He said the work isn't hard, especially for a trained veterinarian.

After all, Allard said, "When your conversation lags, you talk about their pets."

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