Free national advertising. It’s a thing that most business people hope for in their dearest dreams. What could be better than a national spotlight on your business without having to spend money on advertising? Well, dog breeder Linda Brown found out what could make that dream worse: Democrats.

In December of 2008, Brown felt what she thought was the “honor” of being picked by Vice President elect Joe Biden as his source for a new German Shepherd puppy. “Out of millions of breeders in the country, in the world, he picked me,” she gushed… at first.

Then came the death threats from wild-eyed PETA members, Internet rumor mill attacks, and the constant harassment by state inspectors.

That “honor” quickly devolved into horror.

First came calumnies heaped upon the poor woman by Internet comments on news stories about Biden’s purchase. Some readers were incensed that Biden bought a puppy from a breeder of pedigree dogs instead of getting one from a pound. Readers also began to make up rumors about Brown’s business calling into question her humane treatment of the animals in her care. One even started a rumor that she had been sued over her treatment of animals in the past — which she had not been.

Then they began to claim that Brown allowed Biden to take a five-week-old puppy from its mother before it could be weaned. This was also not true, according to Brown. She says Biden purchased the dog, was photographed with it, but then left it at the pound for the next three weeks before he took possession of the pet.

Then came the harassment by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, likely spurred by the complaints by PETA members incensed over the fact that she was a breeder of pedigree dogs, an apparent violation of their delicate sensibilities.

Chris Ryder, press secretary for the Department of Agriculture, said Brown was inspected in December because of a complaint. He said it was department policy not to release the name of the person who complained.

Brown’s kennel, Wolf Den, was inspected twice a year by the agency and routinely had satisfactory reports until December 2008 when it had seven unsatisfactory inspection results out of 26, according to the inspection records on the agency’s Web site.

The special attention by state regulators forced Brown to hire a lawyer to represent her costing the business owner $4,000.

At this point, Linda Brown has soured on her onetime excitement about being Joe Biden’s kennel master.

“Never, never, never again,” Brown said about selling a dog to anyone with a high profile.

And there you have it. The loving, more adult, more tolerant left.

Moral of the story? When you see a Democrat… RUN as fast as you can.