Hilary Rosen To Ann Romney: ‘Let’s Declare Peace In This Phony War’
Hilary Rosen has apologized to Ann Romney for saying that she “has never worked a day in her life,” even though the sentence directly after the comment she made on CNN should have stopped in their tracks anyone with a brain trying to disagree with her. Rosen’s apology, via CNN:
“Let’s put the faux “war against stay at home moms” to rest once and for all. As a mom I know that raising children is the hardest job there is. As a pundit, I know my words on CNN last night were poorly chosen. In response to Mitt Romney on the campaign trail referring to his wife as a better person to answer questions about women than he is, I was discussing his lack of a record on the plight of women’s financial struggles. Here is my more fulsome view of the issues. As a partner in a firm full of women who work outside of the home as well as stay at home mothers, all with plenty of children, gender equality is not a talking point for me. It is an issue I live every day. I apologize to Ann Romney and anyone else who was offended. Let’s declare peace in this phony war and go back to focus on the substance.”
Rosen, a Democratic strategist whose resume runs the gamut of high-level corporate positions, is being smart — especially after several strategic but cowardly Democrats immediately denounced her remarks.
READ:Â Hilary Rosen Latest Victim Of Catholic Attacks On Adoption
What were Rosen’s horrific remarks? Via The Washington Post:
“His wife has actually never worked a day in her life,†Rosen said on Anderson Cooper’s “AC360†show. “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.â€
Oh. My. God.
Hilary Rosen, a single mother of two who is a partner in a high-profile PR firm, knows what some of today’s working mothers know — but I guarantee you, not the half of it.
Women who have full or part time jobs outside of the home, while raising children, especially in this economy, have it tough. I cannot even begin to imagine.
And mothers who are “stay at home moms” have it tough too, unless, like Ann Romney, they have millions of dollars in the bank, several homes, no doubt a nanny or two, no doubt a housekeeper, and no doubt several other people who work hard to keep the Romney homes running smoothly.
The Post added:
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.â€
David Axelrod, Obama’s top strategist, tweeted: “Also Disappointed in Hilary Rosen’s comments about Ann Romney. They were inappropriate and offensive.â€
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.â€
Zack Ford at Think Progress noted:
Democratic strategist and CAP Action board member Hilary Rosen is a single mother of twins who had to go through the expensive and challenging process of adoption with her then partner Elizabeth Birch. Now, she’s trying to stick up for other motherswho don’t have the luxury of millionaire husbands to help fund their child-rearing duties, and the backlash is getting ugly.
Even the conservative Christian Science Monitor has had enough, writing today, “Hilary Rosen vs. Ann Romney: why the dust-up is fake.”
The faux outrage from the Right is understandable, in that they have absolutely no ground to walk on.
Fortunately, American moms — working in and/or out of the home — see right through it.
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