Romney flip-flops up for bid

The Democratic National Committee, which seemingly never misses a chance to take a swipe at Mitt Romney, said today it is auctioning off Romney's old policy positions, in a way.

The DNC is playing off Romney's Mitt Market, which invites supporters to sell used bicycles, old TVs, and other items laying around the house through auctionPAL Inc. and give the proceeds to his presidential campaign.

So the DNC is offering for sale a "Mitt Romney Flip Flop Kit" on eBay to ridicule what critics call his changed positions on issues such as abortion and gay rights. The kit includes DNC bumper stickers, buttons, press releases, and, of course, a pair of flip-flops.

As of this afternoon, the bidding was up to $305.

"In order to avoid profiting from Romney's flip-flopping, the DNC will donate an amount equal to the winning bid to a local pet shelter in honor of embattled Romney family dog Seamus," it says. That refers to the Irish setter who rode in a pet carrier on top of a station wagon for a 12-hour family trip from Boston to Ontario in 1983. When that detail emerged in a Globe series about Romney, animal rights activists were outraged.

The Romney campaign says that the DNC pays so much attention to the former Massachusetts governor because he is the Republican presidential candidate it most fears.