What Hilary Rosen didn’t — and won’t — apologize for
I was out of the office on a reporting trip yesterday when the comments about Ann Romney by someone named Hilary Rosen morphed into the ludicrously named “mommy wars.” I call the appellation ludicrous for a couple of reasons — in part because it’s condescending, but chiefly because my reporting trip concerned programs to help soldiers returning from combat who are physically wounded or struggling to reconnect with their families. So, I’m less patient than ever with phrases such as “mommy wars” and the “war on women.”
Rosen has apologized for saying Ann Romney “hasn’t worked a day in her life” and said, as a mother, she can appreciate the work involved in being a stay-at-home mom. I have no reason to doubt her sincerity about that particular point — if only because, it seems obvious to me, the work ethic of stay-at-home moms wasn’t her real point. Her real point remains unretracted, and it is also repugnant.
The key part of Rosen’s original point can be found in the lead-up to the sentence that caused the controversy:
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 families 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.
I don’t think Rosen was trying to trivialize the work of stay-at-home moms. She was arguing that the Romneys, because they’re wealthy, aren’t capable of understanding the concerns of women, regardless of their vocation. She sure as heck hasn’t apologized for that. In fact, it was seconded by the president of NOW last night.
The obvious implication is that Ann Romney isn’t a Real Woman, which is of a piece with the prevalent liberal belief that the only authentic belief for Real Women is that abortion should be legal — and, since January, that contraception should be completely and universally subsidized. Or similar thoughts concerning what Real racial and ethnic minorities believe. But here’s how Mitt Romney recently spoke the thought that Rosen paraphrased:
My wife has the occasion, as you know, to campaign on her own and also with me, and she reports to me regularly that the issue women care about most is the economy.
So, while I presume Mitt Romney would argue his wife does in fact understand women’s concerns on her own, all he was really saying was that his wife talks to other women, and they tell her they’re concerned about the economy. Shocking!
But Rosen either a) believed this “reporting” beyond Ann Romney’s capability (hey, she’s never worked a day as a journalist, either!) or b) thought it would be good politics to misrepresent what Mitt Romney said about his wife in order to take yet another Democratic shot at the Romneys’ authenticity.
I think we can safely assume the answer is b), in which case we can also safely say that — despite the immediate efforts of the White House and Obama campaign officials to distance themselves from Rosen’s “never worked a day in her life” remark — her underlying point was entirely consistent with Democratic talking points.
(Note: Comments on this post have been closed.)
– By Kyle Wingfield
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693 comments Add your comment
Lyman Hall
April 13th, 2012
1:28 pm
President Obama and Mitt Romney are tied in a national head-to-head match-up, according to the latest survey from conservative polling outlet Rasmussen.
Each pulled 45 percent, WHILE Texas Rep. Ron Paul (R) edged Obama 44 to 43 in the daily tracking poll.
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Knee-shake quake 6.9 on the Metro-sexual scale in North Atlanta.
Kyle Wingfield
April 13th, 2012
1:32 pm
The difference, Lyman, is that Romney is winning the GOP primary while Paul is going to finish fourth out of three (you read that right).
Lyman Hall
April 13th, 2012
1:40 pm
I’m just saying Kyle…………….go ahead and vote for your NorthEast Progressive gun-grabbing carbon-trading state-mandating Fee-imposing Friend of Ted Kennedy (with the record to back it up).
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There are millions who will vote otherwise………..AND………..we await for you all to blame us.
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Liberty-lovers love humor.
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Remember……it isn’t too late to vote for the REAL conservative.
Aquagirl
April 13th, 2012
1:40 pm
Paul is going to finish fourth out of three
Best description of the Paul campaign I’ve ever heard. Hee.
Jefferson
April 13th, 2012
1:41 pm
Folks are all the time passing judgement or people’s labor as if someone’s job, time and labor is somehow more important than others. Time is what life is made of. A “human” resource is about as low as the name calling can get.
Truth Squad
April 13th, 2012
1:42 pm
The truth is that Republicans know that with the current gender gap, they aren’t going to best President Obama and that races downticket will be seriously imperiled as well. It’s the policies Republicans support that matter and women (especially women who do not have a choice but to work) aren’t going to give the Republicans a pass on those policies over some manufactured outraged.
Republicans are still clinging to the hope for increased economic pain as it is about the only hope they have at this point.
ByteMe
April 13th, 2012
1:45 pm
She was arguing that the Romneys, because they’re wealthy, aren’t capable of understanding the concerns of women, regardless of their vocation.
He’s shown absolutely NO ability to connect with anyone who isn’t wealthy.
If she’s his “expert” on women’s issues, perhaps he needs a different expert. Or more experts. Maybe one of his experts should be the head of the largest organization providing health care to indigent women. Oh, wait, his party wants to do away with that organization. Never mind.
ByteMe
April 13th, 2012
1:46 pm
Paul is going to finish fourth out of three
Kudos on the turn of phrase.
Kyle Wingfield
April 13th, 2012
1:49 pm
ByteMe: So far as I know, Mitt has never called Ann an “expert” on economics or women’s issues. That was Rosen’s word. As you can see from the Mitt quote I included — and believe to be representative of what he’s said, though I haven’t combed through every transcript or YouTube video of everything he’s said — what he cites is what Ann tells him women are telling her. So, let’s do away with that “Ann is Mitt’s expert on _____” meme, shall we?
Joe the Prophet
April 13th, 2012
1:51 pm
I sure do enjoy watching the polygamist polytheists go at it against the Sodomites on the Tweeter…:-)….!!!!!
I tell you one thing, though….There is no way in Hell (and I mean Hell) do I want either of them in MY White House….!!!!!!
carlosgvv
April 13th, 2012
2:07 pm
So Rosen, who does not work for the Obama Administration, nevertheless somehow is an official spokesperson for “Democratic talking points”. And, because she thinks Mrs. Romney isn’t capable of understanding the concerns of working women, this proves that liberals all believe abortion should be legal and contraception should be subsidized. Kyle, not everyone here is a gullible Republican who believes anything they are told, no matter how unbelievable and devoid of any critical thinking.
Lyman Hall
April 13th, 2012
2:08 pm
In theory, citizens selected the candidates for election to the NATIONAL Soviet. In practice, at least before the June 1987 elections, these candidates had been selected by the local Communist party, Komsomol, and trade union officials under the direction of the district (raion) party organization. Voting took place after six weeks of campaigning. Though voters formally had the right to vote for or against the unopposed candidate, until 1987 all candidates USUALLY RECEIVED about 99 percent of the vote.
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From the USSR ………………………..right before their fall.
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The USSA got smarter.
They gave the trained-seals TWO choices of centralized authority.
Jefferson
April 13th, 2012
2:08 pm
Will her advertisers leave her ? That’s the money question.
Kyle Wingfield
April 13th, 2012
2:13 pm
carlosgvv: Like Rosen putting “expert” in Mitt’s mouth, you have pulled “official spokesperson” and “liberals all believe” out of thin air.
JDW
April 13th, 2012
2:16 pm
@Kyle, I understand you have to carry the banner forward but there are some just plain facts that you left out.
–Mitt is having a problem connecting with almost EVERYONE except middle aged and older white guys and is having a particular problem with women.
–Ann Romney has never held a job outside the home…not an indictment or criticism just a fact.
–When given the chance to respond to a question regarding women, Mitt “wished” his wife could respond and clearly intimated that she is his “go to expert” on the subject.
I think Rosen’s main point was and remains Ms Romney is a poor choice as the main advisor on the subject of the struggles of working women. She simply has no frame of reference.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
April 13th, 2012
2:19 pm
Carlos, in case you missed it, Rosen is a political consultant whose firm consults directly with the DNC. She has had 35 visits to the White House since the current Disaster-in-Chief took office, and even you should admit that she wasn’t there to get the pastry chef’s recipe for blueberry muffins.
She’s hip-deep in helping the DNC generate the ‘GOP War on Women” mantra, and she’s now effectively diffused it with her comments.
Once again, the intolerance of those liberals who preach tolerance, except when it conflicts with their narrow-minded world view, is simply stunning.
Ryan
April 13th, 2012
2:21 pm
Kyle: “what he cites is what Ann tells him women are telling her.” That’s not what Romney said according to your quote. Ann is telling him what women care about. As far as we know, she is judging this based only on her own concerns.
As to the “expert” meme, it seems entirely appropriate. Romney doesn’t call his wife an expert, but he is citing her views as though she were one.
RMH
April 13th, 2012
2:24 pm
Thanks for noticing the use of the word “war” in connection with this argument. In war people die and countries are destroyed. In arguments like this, feelings are hurt and pride is crumpled. Please don’t ever confuse arguments and discussions with war.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
April 13th, 2012
2:24 pm
JDW, Rosen didn’t say Ann Romney never held a job outside the home; she said that Ann Romney never worked a day in her life.
You’re applying revisionist history to this, and the story isn’t even 3 days old.
And since when is anyone a poor adviser to a candidate when they have spent the past 2 years on the campaign trail talking to people about their issues? You don’t have to live in someone’s shoes to understand their problems if you have the capacity to listen.
Which apparently is the problem of many a liberal on this blog.
kitty
April 13th, 2012
2:26 pm
Ms Romney has no point of reference is correct. SHe can feel for those women but has no idea about what that worry about feeding your kids can do to you or how it is to juggle boss demands with day care timing. She wasn’t running around trying to beat traffic at 5:15 to pick up the kiddies from day care before they close and charge her more.
Romney needs a real advisor with experience on the issues of working women who aren’t millionaires….not someone whose response may be “let them eat cake” if they have no bread. Not saying Ann ROmney isn’t empathetic on the issue but living it is a whole different thing.
akorage
April 13th, 2012
2:27 pm
Kyle
Kyle isn’t it obvious that you think the answer is B
Billy
April 13th, 2012
2:28 pm
I would ask Ms. Romney the price of a gallon of milk and see if she knows the answer.
curious
April 13th, 2012
2:30 pm
Does this mean Republicans are now supporting stay at home mothers on welfare, because they don’t have a rich husband to support them & employ a few housekeepers?
Break out the food stamps!
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
April 13th, 2012
2:30 pm
“I would ask Ms. Romney the price of a gallon of milk and see if she knows the answer.”
I suspect you’d get the same answer from Michelle Obama, and about 95% of the top women advisers who work in the White House.
Billy
April 13th, 2012
2:31 pm
Tibs-they weren’t the ones getting all righteous about being stay at home moms. I imagine ann sends Consuelo to the market when she needs milk.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
April 13th, 2012
2:32 pm
Curious, you need to realize that the Romneys weren’t rich from day one. They had a small apartment to live in when their first child came along, who slept on the end of their bed.
They had three children before he even graduated from Harvard, and their fourth arrived just after he was hired by Bain Capital, so your comment regarding how Ann Romney had all those people helping her is both incorrect and rather stupid.
oakhurstdawg
April 13th, 2012
2:33 pm
Kyle,
You think Ann has ever had to carry a stroller with a baby in it while hold the hand of a toddler up a flight of stairs in a Marta station because the elevator was broken?
Or…you think she’s ever had to leave her baby with a sketchy neighbor because she had to go to work and that was the only option (nm…never worked)?
Ooohhh…or, you think she’s ever changed a diaper in a nasty bathroom somewhere?
Happy Friday.
kelly
April 13th, 2012
2:34 pm
I knew you were off base when you used the phrase “obvious implication”. Obvious to whom? What I heard from Hilary Rosen (thought inartfully stated) was that it’s hard to see how Ann Romney could empathize with women who struggle financially trying to balance work and children. Ann Romney has not had the financial stress part. Ann said as much in an interview. Further, maybe Mitt could get better advice on this subject from someone with that actual life experience. And to attribute HR’s remarks to democrats at large is bush league; implying she’s somehow connected to the Obama campaign is disingenuous. This is just so much faux outrage.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
April 13th, 2012
2:34 pm
“they weren’t the ones getting all righteous about being stay at home moms.”
Says a lot in that one statement about how liberals feel (’cause they certainly don’t think) about people who make a choice they don’t like.
Richard
April 13th, 2012
2:35 pm
I think everyone should issue an apology during a press conference after they utter any word or phrase that has even a minute chance of annoying or offending someone (except of course in Arizona where they are trying to pass that law that would make your bad language an actual misdemeanor). In fact, we should have another cable news network dedicated to these apologies where they’ll cut to a new one every couple of seconds. Maybe they can do a Sports Center style top 10 at the end of the day.
Until that day comes, I’ll just not listen to people I find offensive.
Billy
April 13th, 2012
2:35 pm
Tibs-you are trying to rewrite history by lying. Ann came from a wealthy family and married into a wealthier family. good for her! But this still doesn’t make her an authority on working women-far from it. Actually aren’t republican wives supposed to know their place and stay quiet in your narrow minded world?
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
April 13th, 2012
2:37 pm
“And to attribute HR’s remarks to democrats at large is bush league; implying she’s somehow connected to the Obama campaign is disingenuous.”
Yeah, ’cause she only works for a political consulting firm hired by the DNC and has visited the White House 35 times in the past 3 years, kelly. So I’m sure she has NO connections to the DNC or the White House . . .
JDW
April 13th, 2012
2:37 pm
@Tiberus…”You’re applying revisionist history to this, and the story isn’t even 3 days old”
No I think you and others are ignoring the fact that the phrase “Never worked a day in her life” means she never held a paying job.
curious
April 13th, 2012
2:38 pm
Tiberus,
If you don’t think the Romneys weren’t rich from the day they were born, go to their bios and checkup on their parents and childhood.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
April 13th, 2012
2:39 pm
“Tibs-you are trying to rewrite history by lying. Ann came from a wealthy family and married into a wealthier family.’
Yeah, so that basement apartment the Romneys lived in with one bedroom when they had their first child is just fiction, right, Billy?
Richard
April 13th, 2012
2:39 pm
Oh Kyle,
I may be mistaken (I’m sure you’ll correct me if I am), but didn’t Sarah Palin pull the same thing in 2008 when she had the “real America” tag line?
Billy
April 13th, 2012
2:39 pm
the fact that the romneys overreacted to a non-story is what is so telling. Truth hurts.
Billy
April 13th, 2012
2:40 pm
Tibs-the “one room” apartment was on the family estate. Try again.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
April 13th, 2012
2:42 pm
“No I think you and others are ignoring the fact that the phrase “Never worked a day in her life” means she never held a paying job.”
Then she should have said that, JDW, rather, she showed her utter disdain for the Romneys in general and Ann Romney in particular. She showed her (and many liberals) true colors of intolerance.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
April 13th, 2012
2:43 pm
“Tibs-the “one room” apartment was on the family estate. Try again.”
Lovely punch-line. Unfortunately for you, not even remotely factual, Billy.
curious
April 13th, 2012
2:44 pm
The Romney’s days of “having it rough” were like the nights you camped out in the backyard. You could go into the house at anytime.
The safety net was there.
Kyle Wingfield
April 13th, 2012
2:46 pm
kitty: Do you honestly believe Michelle Obama has any more of a point of reference on most of those things? I’m not trying to suggest anything untoward about Mrs. Obama or her career choices, but isn’t she just as removed from “that worry about feeding your kids” as Mrs. Romney?
ByteMe
April 13th, 2012
2:46 pm
So, let’s do away with that “Ann is Mitt’s expert on _____” meme, shall we?
Given the responses above to how Mitt has characterized her… I think you’re just hoping it goes away. You can’t really make the case that he can connect to the average working mom or that his ‘go-to” person for it can connect either.
Don’t worry… I don’t really expect you to make the case. That would imply he can’t do it on his own and that it’s a problem, both of which the Denial Party will continue to… well… deny.
Meanwhile… I hope you have a fun weekend planned with the kids. I LOVE SPRING!
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
April 13th, 2012
2:46 pm
“If you don’t think the Romneys weren’t rich from the day they were born, go to their bios and checkup on their parents and childhood.”
And if anyone thinks you know what, if any, assistance was given to them by their parents, they’d be just as ignorant as you are, curious. It is obvious you don’t know a thing about Mormon values of self-reliance and humility, that’s for sure.
Kyle Wingfield
April 13th, 2012
2:47 pm
akorage: Yes. In fact, it’s so obvious that I wrote — wait for it — “I think we can safely assume the answer is b) …”
Dusty
April 13th, 2012
2:47 pm
Wow, this subject is nothing but”going to hell in a handbasket” for mini-minds.
First: Ann Romeny is not a candidate or even a consideration for the office of president of the USA.
Second: Men who have to consult women other than their wife for the best female information have long found themselves in trouble. Just ask Mr. Petrino about that.
Third: Women come with a brain of their own and use them to make decisions. Pack leadership is not their “thing”. Individual thinking prevails. Don’t presume otherwise.
Kyle Wingfield
April 13th, 2012
2:48 pm
Billy @ 2:28: I give you the same question as kitty. This is not a matter of liking one or the other.
1961_Xer
April 13th, 2012
2:48 pm
POTUS and wife: Harvard Law School graduate millionaires, private school educated children with a combined 5 years of private-sector work between them. . It sure sounds like they have a lot in in common with typical working women today.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
April 13th, 2012
2:48 pm
“The Romney’s days of “having it rough” were like the nights you camped out in the backyard. You could go into the house at anytime.”
Please tell us how many years you were neighbors of the Romneys growing up, curious.
ByteMe
April 13th, 2012
2:48 pm
Do you honestly believe Michelle Obama has any more of a point of reference on most of those things?
Nope. But then again, I don’t see Obama saying that whenever he wants to know about women issues, he goes exclusively to her. Do you?