"His wife has actually never worked a day in her life."

We Love Ann Romney Photo Credit: Me, I took it.

Hilary Rosen, a Democratic National Committee political consultant, former Huffington Post editor, spin doctor, and overall liberal woman, was playing the part of talking head last night on CNN's AC360, when she was talking about the so-called, "War on Women," (which she says is a Republican term, not a Democrat term. I beg to differ. I say it is a media term, created by people like her for shock value.) and Romney's supposed problem with women voters, and the economy, when she said, “His wife has actually never worked a day in her life. She’s never really dealt with the kinds of economic issues that a majority of the women in this country are facing in terms of how do we feed our kids, how do we send them to school and how do we — why we worry about their future.”

Hear it in context for yourself-



Just two hours later, Ann Romney and the Romney camp launched a new Twitter account for Ann Romney (@AnnDRomney). Her maiden tweet-

Less than an hour later, the Romney's son Josh came to his mother's defense as well.

Shortly after that, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina tweeted: “I could not disagree with Hilary Rosen any more strongly. Her comments were wrong and family should be off limits. She should apologize.”David Axelrod, Obama’s top strategist, tweeted: “Also Disappointed in Hilary Rosen’s comments about Ann Romney. They were inappropriate and offensive.”
And Stephanie Cutter, Obama’s deputy campaign manager, tweeted: “Families must be off limits on campaigns, and i personally believe stay at home moms work harder than most of us do.”
This all happened after 10 pm Wednesday night. To say it is the topic of the morning is an understatement.
Rosen, as of 10 am, has not yet apologized. But she did get pretty defensive online. Both she and Romney are making the rounds on talk shows this morning.
Via Twitter, Rosen said, (in this order)
9:55 pm: When I said @AC360 Ann Romney never worked I meant she never had to care for her kids AND earn a paycheck like MOST American women! #Truth
9:59 pm: Mitt Romney is running for President, not Ann. He hired only 10%women at Bain; now makes up false concern for women's economic struggle.
10:09 pm: I've nothing against @AnnRomney. I just don't want Mitt using her as an expert on women struggling $ to support their family. She isn't.
10:11 pm @donnapt My point is that he should stop saying that she is his guide to women's economic problems. She doesn't have any. #IsntItObvious?
10:16 pm @morningmoneyben When Mitt says he listens to her about women's economic problems, it is fair to wonder why?
(10:18 pm- Ann Romney's tweet)
10:35 pm Bring it on!"@samsteinhp: i go away for 45 minutes and suddenly @hilaryr has become a campaign story despite not working for any campaign"
10:56 pm @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?

10:58 pm @AnnDRomney Please know, I admire you. But your husband shouldn't say you are his expert on women and the economy. #HeNeedsMore

11:05 pm oh and @AnnDRomney welcome to Twitter. You will find it a very exhilarating and often unforgiving place!

Let's point out, just for fun, that Rosen defended her point of view five times before Romney even joined Twitter. This isn't an Ann v. Hilary war. This is conservative mothers v. Rosen war.

This isn't the first time we've seen Democrats accuse Republican, family-first, women of not having "real jobs." In 2004, Teresa Heinz Kerry, the incredibly wealthy heiress and wife of Senator and presidential wannabe John Kerry, said of Laura Bush, "... has actually never worked a day in her life, ... She's never really dealt with the kinds of economic issues that a majority of the women in this country are facing in terms of how do we feed our kids, how do we send them to school and how do we -- why we worry about their future."
(Great irony in the fact that Teresa Heinz Kerry was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, while Laura Bush was a school teacher in the projects, and was anything but a wealthy child.)
But back to Rosen and Romney.
The backlash on Twitter has been fascinating. There are several interesting hashtags circulating to promote stay at home mothers, Ann Romney, and more. Some of my favorites have been #MomsDoWork, #WarOnAnnRomney, #WeLoveAnnRomney, and #Rosengate.
The support for Rosen has been fairly weak on Twitter. A quick search on her name shows very few people backing her up. Most "retweets" of her comments were by Romney supporters who added on insults to Rosen.
CNN tends to have a policy of not throwing their own under the bus. They are running a blog piece on it, but haven't distanced themselves or anything from her comments. Before anyone goes crying liberal foul, that has always been the CNN style. They just stay quiet, and don't flail their people publicly. Fox News, on the other hand, will have Ann Romney appearing live in just 15 minutes. That network is having a field day with the comments.
Rosen is a highly paid DNC consultant, bringing in over $200,000 for her work there. She was the chair and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) as well, a job with a fairly substantial paycheck. She was also the director of the Human Rights Campaign. She and her former partner, Elizabeth Birch, have twins together.
Is anyone surprised at all that a fairly wealthy, pro-LGBT activist, and Democratic consultant, has a problem with Ann Romney's idyllic life? After all, Ann Romney is everything Rosen sees as the enemy- pretty, straight women, raising successful, conservative, rich sons!
At the end of all this, I think the GOP needs to send Rosen a thank you card. She just did what they have struggled all along to do- unite conservatives behind Romney!