Dem strategist's remark about Ann Romney sparks uproar

Mitt and Ann Romney

/ AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

(CBS News) PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Ann Romney started a Twitter account on Wednesday evening to respond to a comment from Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen, who said that the wife of the presumed Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, was unqualified to speak about the kinds of economic issues facing women in America because she had never "worked a day in her life."

Rosen, appearing on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, called Mitt Romney "old fashioned when it comes to women." She said the former Massachusetts governor was learning about the economic plights of the fair sex through his wife, Ann, who has been meeting with women regularly on the trail.

"His wife has actually never worked a day in her life," Rosen said on CNN. "She's never really dealt with the kinds of economic issues that a majority of women in this country are facing in terms of how do we feed our kids? How do we send them to school? And why we worry about their future."

Ann Romney to Hilary Rosen: My career choice was motherhood

A short time later, Ann Romney responded by opening a Twitter account, where her new profile reads, "Mom of five boys. Grandmother of 16. Out campaigning for @MittRomney. #Mitt2012." She sent just one tweet that said, "I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work."

Rather than backing down, Rosen herself then took to the social media site, responding directly to Ann Romney with a series of tweets:

Hilaryr: @AnnDRomney I am raising children too. But most young American women HAVE to BOTH earn a living AND raise children. You know that don't u?

Hilaryr: @AnnDRomney Please know, I admire you. But your husband shouldn't say you are his expert on women and the economy. #HeNeedsMore

Hilaryr: oh and @AnnDRomney welcome to Twitter. You will find it a very exhilarating and often unforgiving place!

The impromptu Twitter battle provoked responses from both the Romney and Obama campaigns - all through Twitter. Romney senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom called Rosen an "Obama adviser" and said her "new kill Ann strategy" had insulted working moms. And although Rosen is only a supporter and not affiliated with the Obama campaign, two top Obama officials - senior strategist David Axelrod and campaign manager Jim Messina - both distanced the campaign from Rosen's remarks through tweets of their own, with Axelrod calling the comments "inappropriate and offensive" while Messina called on Rosen to apologize.

Instead, Rosen continued to make her argument in a blog post on the Huffington Post website, where she called Ann Romney a "nice lady" but again questioned whether she was the right person to counsel her husband on women's economic issues.

"Is Ann Romney Mitt's touchstone for women who are struggling economically or not?" Rosen writes in her post.

"Nothing in Ann Romney's history as we have heard it -- hardworking mom she may have been -- leads me to believe that Mitt has chosen the right expert to get feedback on this problem he professes to be so concerned about."

[LouanW]

Female White House staffers are paid less than male White Sstaffers.

[ge556]

Why is this a major story? The fact that the media are playing it up is a victory for the Republicans.

[QOCM]

And I have to add that to bring children into the world to be raised by strangers for the sake of having more money is not a wise decision. I stayed at home while my children were young and was there for them. It is the right thing to do. Besides, when there's love at home, money does not matter that much. I also want to add that raising my children was the toughest job of all, but I relished every minute of it. Committment to your children is the noblest job of all. Rosen is talking nonsense.

[DelRN]

Why do women feel the need to argue the stay-at-home working mom vs. go-to-office working mom over and over? Shouldn't we support each other, no matter what route we take? I have no choice but to go to work everyday, so does that make me "uncommitted" to my child? No, quite the opposite than you very much. And my home is filled with love, but unfortunately, love doesn't keep food in the fridge or the electric on. Raising children IS the toughest and most important job in the world, but we as women need to realize the "stay at home June Cleaver" world is not a possiblity, nor even a desire, for many women. Let's realize we are all strong, we all have the capability to love our children and do anything for them no matter what our "jobs" are, and stop this ridiculousness.

[QOCM]

That Rosen gal is out of line. She insulted all the women in the world that decide to become a stay at home moms, implying that women who take care of the home and children are not working. Ignorance is endearing, at best!

[azure13]

She did no such thing... She stated facts. Mrs. Romney indeed does not have any experience in such matters. And no where did Rosen imply that stay at home moms do not work.
She is saying that Mrs. Romney does not understand what it is like to both work and raise kids. Many moms do not have the choice of being able to stay at home. It isn't economically feasible for most.

[azure13]

Mrs. Romney probably also had housekeepers. We know for sure that they had gardeners. Cuz he hired legal ones right? I mean he can't hire illegals because he is running for President! lol
There is no way she could possibly be in touch with the average American mom. Seriously, give it up.

[KPeters_from_UK]

This past week Republican Governor Scott Walker passed a bill to remove equal pay for equal work by making it harder to take the employer to court over unequal pay. The law had allowed for victims to sue employers in state court which is often less expensive than filing in federal court. Now, it will be very expensive and more difficult and when your salary was low to begin with...well..might as well forget trying to defend your right to fair pay. Just another restriction against women's rights.


Wisconsin is one of the worst states in the country for equality of pay for women. Men earn significantly more than women in Wisconsin at similar jobs. But that's ok because women don't care about making money and wages cause they are happy to stay home. "Repealing the law was a no-brainer for state Sen. Glenn Grothman (R), who led the effort because of his belief that pay discrimination is a myth driven by liberal women's groups. Ignoring multiple studies showing that the pay gap exists, Grothman blamed females for prioritizing childrearing and homemaking instead of money, saying, "Money is more important for men,"

Let me repeat that quote: "Money is more important for men,"

That is definitely out of touch!!!!!

[Zann-Zel]

"Money is more important for men," ???? Women don't need money?
Are men in general just worried they won't be needed anymore or something?

[texbelle123]

I am glad that Romney depends on his wife for something.

But let's be realistic here. There is a whale of a lot of difference between being a stay-at-home mom who has to decide whether to buy new shoes, pay the doctor bill, or get next week's groceries ... all with this weeks check -- and the stay-at-home mom who simply writes multiple checks on her rich husbands accounts to buy all she needs to make the job easy.

If Mr Romney REALLY wants to get a handle on what everyday women face, whether working mothers, stay-at-home moms, or any other average female, he will certainly look further than just to his (convently supportive) wife for those answers.

[blhmarh]

I am a mother of two children (one 16 years-old and disabled) and one ten years old.

I have worked outside the home and also stayed home with my kids. It is all hard work. However, there is no lunch hour at home and I admire women at the grocery store at ten o clock in the morning with three children under five.

Instead of Rosen criticizing Anne Romney for staying home, she should applaud people who work hard at home. Does she think becoming so angry and vile advances her cause? I don't think so. I also will not vote or vote for Romney because he is rich. I think many people are angry that he has money. Why? Most people who run for president are wealthy.

Secondly, Anne Romney was a different generation and most of her children are in their 40s. My mother never outside the whom (she was a teacher for one year) when she had children either. That was almost forty years ago. A lot has changed since then

[KPeters_from_UK]

Did you have nannies, gardener, cook. Did your father-in-law buy you a car, house ..did he give you an allowance to live off of when your husband went to university?

[1pheasant1]

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. -Confucius

I guess Ann Romney didn't exactly love preparing the home for Willard and taking care of the spoiled brats!

[1pheasant1]

I'm sure our First Lady demanded President Obama share in the parenting duties, and it is a duty he is fulfilling to this day. Willard didn't even know how to take the family pet along on a vacation. To be sure, Ann Romney had to either do the job of two people, or Willard would have outsourced.

[1pheasant1]

A request from Zann fulfilled.


KPeters_from_UK April 12, 2012 12:47 PM EDT
1. In Oklahoma convicted rapists are allowed to have child visitation rights with the child born of the rape.
2. Idaho and Indiana want to make sure that "silly" women don't use a rape loophole for abortion.
3. Mississippi's Governor gleefully openly stated that the new trap law, bill HB1390 will close down the only abortion center in the state.
4. Michigan, Texas and several others are pushing for Personhood bills which in many cases give full rights to fertilized eggs.
5. Arizona wants to limit contraception by allowing employers to act like doctors to approve or disallow birth control even if used for others means.
6. Tennessee will publish private information on patients, such as the woman's county, age, income, race who have abortions. If a woman lives in a sparse county this is intrusive.
7. Georgia will no longer label victims of rape as victims but as accusers.
8. The GOP in Congress wanted to change the definition of rape. I guess there is a difference between forcible rape and ...what? casual rape?
9. For the first time ever in the history of the Violence against Women Act, which always had the support of many GOP and Republican Presidents suddenly is hated by the majority of the GOP and they seek to reject it.
10. A major Santorum backer called for women to use aspirin between their legs as birth control.
11. Rush Limbaugh called a woman a **** and lied about her testimony. Oh where in her testimony did she ever ever mention her sex life (for those ignorant men out there women need to take the Pill once a day for it to work regardless of a woman actually being sexually active)?
12. Blasting the Girl Scouts because they accepted a transgender kid when the kid should have be locked up in an attic. Wes Keller a GOP lawmaker condemns the Girl Scouts for being pawns of Planned Parenthood. Both groups wanted a boycott of Girl Scout cookies.
13. Wisconsin's Governor Walker secretly signing a bill into law that would make it so much harder for women to fight for fair and equal wages.
On top of this, why are all the Red States are at the bottom of the pile in regards to quality of health care for women, employment choices for women, education for women, and have the worst wages for women and the highest teenage unwanted pregnancies?

The list of states with the worst teenage pregnancies is from a recent article. The others examples can easily be found if one choose to google. Not hard.

[Zann-Zel]

: ) Thank you!

[ssporleder]

Ann Romney has NOTHING to defend and NOTHING to apologize for!

Most women would love to be in her shoes to take care of their family the way she has been able to. I would.

Raising one child is a challenge to raise, she raised five.

She was very fortunate to have a husband that could also afford it ~ with money he EARNED.

And she easily could have afforded nannies and the rest to allow her to go outside of the home for another type of job, but she chose family.

Ask any mother why they wanted to come back to work and they probably will say to get some much needed rest.

Children are 24/7, not 8-10 hours five days a week.

Family should be off limits, especially when the criticism is so petty and reeks of jealousy.

[1pheasant1]

Parenting is a whole lot easier when you have loads of money "earned" by stripping people of their livelihoods. How smug, ss poorleader. Many women in America need to work AND raise their children. Neither you, nor Ann Romney have a clue.

[1pheasant1]

Of who, Hoax? You? Never!
I find these type of people to be of POOR character. I have more than they.