I don’t watch CNN that often so I missed out on this as it was happening live, but apparently some Democrat hack stepped in it big time by suggesting that Ann Romney has never worked a day in her life and thus can’t understand what most women go through. Problem is, Ann Romney has not only raised five children but also dealt with MS and cancer. The Romney Campaign seized on it quickly by having Ann Romney get on twitter herself tweeting “I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work.” Even Obama campaign manager Jim Messina and David Axelrod quickly denounced the insult on twitter.
First, here’s the video from CNN:
Here’s the full story with reactions:
WASHINGTON EXAMINER – Want a preview of the hyper-speed political warfare that will mark the general election campaign? Look no farther than a skirmish, conducted first on Twitter and later everywhere else, that erupted Wednesday night over a Democratic strategist’s accusation that Ann Romney has “never worked a day in her life.”
It started on CNN, when Hilary Rosen, a longtime Democratic operative, appeared in a segment alongside fellow Democrat Paul Begala and conservative blogger Erick Erickson. Rosen denounced Republicans for — she claimed — wrongly attributing the phrase “war on women” to Democrats. And then, Rosen said this:
With respect to economic issues, I think actually that Mitt Romney is right that ultimately women care more about the economic well-being of their family and the like. But he doesn’t connect on that issue, either. What you have is Mitt Romney running around the country saying well, you know, my wife tells me that what women really care about are economic issues, and when I listen to my wife, that’s what I’m hearing. Guess what? 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 why we worry about their future.
Within seconds, Rosen’s statement that Ann Romney has “never worked a day in her life” began to burn up Twitter. Mrs. Romney, after all, had raised five children, as well as dealt with MS and cancer. That was work, no matter how much money her husband made.
The Romney campaign jumped on Rosen’s remarks with a speed that no Republican campaign has shown in the past. First, campaign staffers sent out tweets hitting Rosen. “Obama adviser Hilary Rosen goes on CNN to debut their new ‘kill Ann’ strategy, and in the process insults hard-working moms,” said top Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom. The campaign then sent out word that Rosen, who has worked for the Democratic National Committee and other Democratic organizations, is now part of the same firm, SKDKnickerbocker, as Anita Dunn, a prominent member of the Obama circle. And then came word that Rosen had visited the White House at least 35 times, according to publicly-available White House visitors logs. And then that Rosen attended last month’s state dinner at the White House.
Sensing an opportunity, the Romney campaign rolled out the big guns and had Ann Romney, who had never sent out a message on Twitter before, send out her first: “I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work.” Mrs. Romney quickly had thousands of followers.
The story really took off when Obama campaign officials scrambled to distance themselves from Rosen. 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.” Top Obama aide David Axelrod added, “Also disappointed in Hilary Rosen’s comments about Ann Romney. They were inappropriate and offensive.”