Are Politicians' Dog Tales Newsworthy?

For some reason, the story about Mitt Romney taking a family vacation and strapping his dog in a pet carrier on the roof of the car has not gone away. And the vacation in question was in 1983.

Now, it was a 12-hour drive to Canada the Romneys embarked upon. But it was a long time ago.

The story has seen new life in the wake of the news that Barack Obama ate dog meat as a child growing up in Indonesia. He did that a few times ... in, like, 1970.

Are either of these stories relevant today, in 2012? Are they newsworthy?

(Photo by the White House, via the Washington Post)