Hotsheet Live: Will Ann Romney vs. Hilary Rosen matter to voters?

CBS News correspondent Whit Johnson was joined on Hotsheet Live on Friday by CBS News political director John Dickerson and the Huffington Post senior political reporter Jon Ward to discuss Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen's comments directed toward Ann Romney.

"What was different here was that she was now playing offense," Dickerson said of Mrs. Romney's new role in the campaign.

Dickerson added that President Obama was forced into damage control in order to distance his campaign from Rosen. "This was a three-alarm fire they were trying to put out," he said.

Ward and Dickerson both said it's difficult to predict whether Rosen's comments will have an impact on the general election, but Ward said it's too early to dismiss them.

"I think people who say it doesn't matter at all are dismissing sort of the patchwork nature of a campaign where voters are making up their minds a day at a time," Ward said.

Watch the entire show above, which also includes a report from CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller in Tampa where Mr. Obama was about to give a speech on Friday.

John Dickerson: The political umbrage wars
Hilary Rosen flap a "win in every regard" for GOP, says Nicolle Wallace
The ascension of Ann Romney

[myabc123]

This "war on women" jazz is possibly the biggest smokescreen ever!

Can we please get these candidates to talk about real issues?
Mr Romney, What do you plan to do about the tidal wave of
outsourcing and destruction of the middle class?
Corporations like Verizon are getting tax refunds as they
outsource American jobs. kill employee pensions and healthcare plans. The 2 top executives pulled down 50 million $$ between them last year. How can you possibly tell us that you are the guy to stop this when you claim that the corporations are overregulated already?

[BOB-C]

Non-news. Flat already yesterday. Hilary Rosen's was indeed a sad, stupid and insulting comment but records speak louder than distractions and rhetoric. Desperate Republicans grasping at straws to reach out to women after constantly bashing them will doubtfully detract from Obama's female support. The President acted instantly and properly to defuse the "situation". Just another case of Republicans donning the proverbial "king's new clothes." "Much ado about nothing," the blink will be forgotten by next week.

George Will: "Using a salad fork for your entree, THAT's inappropriate."

[sandy 1027]

Ann Romney seems like a very nice lady( of course I don't know her).As someone who stayed home and raised her 3 children in their formative years, I know that it's a very difficult job, but rewarding.I'm sure that Ann Romney did a great job in raising her sons; HOWEVER,the real issue is: Is Ann Romney the best adviser for Mitt Romney on the issues that confront the average woman-particularly on economic issues ? Realistically,that's a hard case to make.

[DebbieCorona]

Will Ann vs Rosen matter to voters? Only female voters that see the GOP slowing moving women back into the dark ages. I would say any female voter that was born after 1960 it will matter.

[amskeptic]

Freddie6 wrote: Isn't it great to see the clown and his chicago cult doubling down on his creepy juvenile's comment!!!???? My wife with her degrees and two masters decided to do that garbage job of raising three kids as a stay at home mom (something I could never do) and I guess i will have to tell her that the bamas and the now crowd say she didn't do a *)^)^)^ thing. WHERE DO THESE PEOPLE LIVE??? WHAT DO THEY DO FOR A "REAL" LIVING????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
**********************************************************************
Freddie? Settle down. This is ranting, and Americans are done with that. We have a lot of work to do to save this country, and we do not need this noise.

[audemus]

If that's the biggest rock the Republicans have to throw, they're in more trouble than I thought.

[Molly-Pchr]

Gee, what exactly are we voting for in November? Will someone who thought Romney could do the job now vote for Obama because Romney's wife stayed home with the kids? Will someone who thought Obama could do the job now vote for Romney because of something some hag said on cable news? What does the media take us for?

[amskeptic]

Freddie6, you seem fixated on matters of intelligence . . . thus giving yourself away. If you look at the policy prescriptions of both candidates, any person of intelligence would see that there is only one sensible choice, and thankfully, it is a choice that also has a far greater intelligence than the other.

[djaymick]

No, the real question is, "will the media defend Republicans who attack Michelle Obama the same way they defend Hilary Rosen? Does this open the door for attacks on Obama's family?" The media has no shame when talking about Rick Santorum's daughter or Sarah Palin's son, so are they in play now, too? I love it how the media and the Democrats love to start fights, but then circle the wagons when they are caught with their pants down. Like my mom used to say, "thick as thieves".

[greenlantern1]

"Thick as thieves?"
It was John Mitchell, not Eric Holder, that wound up behind bars.
It was Nixon that was a crook and worse.
Watergate was no third-rate burglary.

[johntlofty]

There's a pretty obvious difference between a Republican saying that Michelle Obama shouldn't be talking about what we feed our kids because her butt is too big, as opposed to Rosen's comments about Ann Romney not being in a position to personally relate to women's economic hardships.

Talking about Michelle Obama's backside was an insulting side point from the real issue: we are feeding our kids junk and it's bad for their long term health. No one has tried to pass a law to force American's to serve broccoli to their kids. Having a First Lady willing to be a spokesperson for a real problem is a good thing and only a moron would find fault.

Mitt Romney has been trying to use his wife as a surrogate, saying that she can relate to women experiencing economic hardship, when she hasn't. Having to sell stock your father gave you to pay rent, while you finish college is not an economic hardship. Ann Romney has faced struggles and challenges, but not economic ones.

[gasbecca]

Ann Romney cannot relate what we go through as struggling women in America. She turned Hilary's words around to score political points, but we are not stupid! We know what Hilary meant and its the truth. We do not ignore the role of a woman in a home, however it makes a great difference when you are privileged like Ann Romney and we hope she can relate with us.

[djaymick]

Oh, that's right, stay at home mothers are shut ins. And they don't have a clue about anything but children, laundry and ironing. (Kinda reminds me of an Obama campaign stop in 2008 when one of his loyalists held up a sign at Hillary Clinton that said, "Iron my Shirt, B#$%h".) Well, Obama has never run anything in his life (except his mouth) and it shows by the way he is campaigning. It's the typical community organizing tactics - spot a target, stereotype a huge swath of Americans to make people feel apathy and intimidate to get your way.

[Joe-TheFarmer]

Ann Romney raised 5 boys which is probably harder than any job you can think of. She also worked for years with at risk children. She did not get paid but is was certainly work. I think she knows something about woman's issues.

As a breast cancer survivor that suffers from a terminal disease Multiple Sclerosis, I am sure she was happy when her husband Mitt passed universal health care in Massachusetts.