Hasn't worked? Obama stands up for Romney's wife

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By LAURIE KELLMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House - and President Barack Obama himself - rushed into a damage control campaign Thursday to blunt the impact of a Democratic consultant's suggestion that Ann Romney isn't qualified to discuss the economy because she "hasn't worked a day in her life."

"It was the wrong thing to say," Obama declared in an interview with WCMH-TV in Columbus, Ohio, standing up for Republican rival Mitt Romney's wife with Democrats suddenly on the defensive over women's issues for the first time this election year. Of the "ill-advised statement" by consultant Hilary Rosen, he added, "It's not something that I subscribe to."

In an interview with Cedar Rapids, Iowa, TV station KCRG, the president said "there's no tougher job than being a mom" and cited the efforts of his wife, Michelle, and his own mother, a single woman with two children.

"That's work," he said. "So, anybody who would argue otherwise probably needs to rethink their statement."

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20120413/D9U3N0700.html

---

In this March 19, 2012 file photo, Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney talks with audience members after her husbands spoke at the University of Chicago, in Chicago. Ann Romney is firing back at a Democratic consultant who is suggesting that the wife of wealthy presidential candidate Mitt shouldn’t be talking about the economy’s toll on women. "Guess what, his wife has actually never worked a day in her life," said consultant Hilary Rosen on CNN. The remark inspired Ann Romney’s debut on Twitter. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)

[enough]

1. On the other hand, everybody and her mother knows exactly what

"never worked a day in her life" means.

This could be a rare occasion where a democrat is playing by republican rules.

By all means, everybody from the President on down should express indignation and keep saying there is no harder job than being a mother. But "never worked a day in her life" stands on its own.

[MADem]

5. When all this bullshit dies down, the shit that will stick is that Ann Romney never worked a day in

her life, that she is rich, that she is out of touch, and she has three caddys and a horse to ride recreationally--not because she's some sort of part-time Mormon-Amish Greenie-- at every house.

All this other stuff is just fluff. The poutrage can't be sustained, but the reality of Hard Workin' Annie's true circumstances will sink in the longer this conversation continues.

[JI7]

2. for some reason i just can't see most mothers sympathizing with Ann Romney

there are many mothers who would like to stay home to raise their kids but they don't have that choice. im not just talking about single mothers also or where the father is unemployed. but even in homes where the father is working the mother still has to work also to get by.

i think in the end people get it just because it's so personal to them. hopefully some comedy shows and others who can be offensive will make something out of it.

[primavera]

9. Does it count...

... when you have a battalion of nannies raising your children for you?

[indie_voter]

11. this is key

The message got lost in the generalization so it became easy to pounce. I'm an engineer. I pulled back and stayed at home with my kids when they were babies. Hardest work I've ever done. Ever. No nanny. Just me and the kids. I was lucky to be able to do it but it was work. I agree with the President, anybody who says raising kids full time isn't hard work doesn't know what they're talking about.

However I don't believe Ann Romney actually raised her kids by herself, full time. I also think most women understand the distinction and what Rosen meant to say.

[MichiganVote]

13. What is there to sympathize with? Heartburn?

[ashling]

3. "after her husbands spoke" ?

I thought Mormon's believed in multiple wives/

[emulatorloo]

4. Romneytrons are still lying and claiming Rosen works for the Obama campaign.

They are trying very hard to distract from their own shitty positions.

[Grown2Hate]

6. I guess we have to pretend that the Rmoney's don't hire a team of nannys to raise the kids?

I guess so.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

8. Nannys and house cleaners and landscapers and pretty much somebody to do

ANYTHING they don't want to do. Like hard work. I know this because if I had won the latest powerball lottery, I would hire most of those same people and even if I had won the whole thing, I still wouldn't have as much money as Rmoney has but at least I would have come by it honestly!

[dflprincess]

14. Even without nannies it's still a lot easier to raise kids

when you don't have to worry about how you're going to get all 5 new shoes for school or how you'll pay for it if that cough little Buffy has turns out to be pneumonia.

[Mink2]

48. Rumors about Ann

They say she has multiple sclerosis and that is an incurable disease. If that is true she might qualify for permanent disability. Now they are also saying she had breast cancer.

Who knows what to believe with this bunch.

[Grassy Knoll]

7. Hilary Rosen should Apologize for....

talking like Flush Lumpballs.
He calls Mrs.Obama " MOOCHELLE " every chance he gets.

[Iris]

42. I think there's quite a big difference between Limbaugh & Rosen

seriously

[southernyankeebelle]

10. Me thinks she protests way to much. I am sure she had nannies to help. She

isn't going to break those little ole finger nails.

[MichiganVote]

12. I don't need Obama or anyone else to lecture me about work and women

Been there and I've fucking done it for 25+ years and I've raised kids. So What?? SO the fuck what?

As far as I'm concerned this is not a "guy" issue. This is personal. Woman personal. So back the hell off men.

This is woman meets woman and says, until you've cleared the egg off some fat slobs plate, until you have waited through some shithead's profanity laden telephone assualt, walked to a bus stop in the winter to get to the job, wiped the spit off some old geezer's face or washed the shit off some poor old woman's butt

You have not worked.

Be available madam to witness the heart crushing grief of family members whose parent or child has died, listen to the child who recounts her abuse, stand in the factory line for hours, watch the children cross the street knowing if one of the chicks doesn't make it--some parent will be lost. Drive the damn bus, handle the slippery roads as a trucker, stand in the hot sun picking the strawberries for Queen Romney's table--THAT is the work that women fucking do.

So I could give a rats ass what Obama or any other man has to say--except that they have the nerve to say anything.
Grow the fuck up.

Ann Romney, you raised kids, good for you. But the experience of raising kids is not the same as having to work for the man. Unless you've done it, there is NO comparison.

[wendylaroux]

20. Oh yeah!!!

What Michigan said.

[MichiganVote]

38. Working mothers--take a bow.

[Proletariatprincess]

22. right on sister Michigan!

Don't we working class women wish we had the choice to stay home and raise our children? And if money wasn't an issue like it is for almost every family in the USA, it would be downright leasure time to stay home even with the stresses of raising 5 boys.

[MichiganVote]

36. These people need a reality check for sure.

[BlueMTexpat]

23. A real KA post! Love it!

Good on you!

Been there, done that along with all the women who now work/have worked both inside the home raising kids, cooking meals and cleaning house, while holding down at least one job at the same time (occasionally up to three part-time, in my case) - and still worrying about how to get all the bills paid. Part of that time was also as a single mom. Thank all TPTB that we had no major health issues, that I had excellent family support and that my kids turned out just great! I know how lucky I was - it certainly wasn't all my own doing. But that all happened when there were more safety nets and certainly lower higher education costs in comparison to what exists today.

I was also extremely fortunate that life turned better for me both professionally and financially once the "kids" were raised, educated through university and on their own. But I'll never forget the very tough years. Ever.

Ann Romney knows nothing about the choices - and sacrifices - that the majority of American women who are mothers must make every day.

And she never will.

Her husband and his supporters work actively to limit all choices for American women. We will not forget that!

[MichiganVote]

37. Thank you. Too much blathering on the part of politicians these days.

[Seeking Serenity]

44. Wait just one minute, now

This is woman meets woman and says, until you've cleared the egg off some fat slobs plate, until you have waited through some shithead's profanity laden telephone assualt, walked to a bus stop in the winter to get to the job, wiped the spit off some old geezer's face or washed the shit off some poor old woman's butt

You have not worked.

I've not done any of those things, either, despite my having had (to have) a job during most of my adult life, apart from a brief time as a SAHM.

Are you saying I've not worked either??

[Thrill]

15. Media basically doing everything they can to have women

sympathize with Mittens on an issue that is really hurting him.

The reality is, there was nothing wrong with what Hillary said. But its politics. And Obama has to distance himself from it. But Mittens wife really shouldn't be out there trying to talk about economic issues. Because she can't relate to women that go to work and everyday to provide for their families.

[Iris]

43. Nor should she talk about unzipping her husband's pants

Last edited Sat Apr 14, 2012, 09:03 AM - Edit history (1)

I think she should just not talk. Period.

[JDPriestly]

16. Being a mom is always hard work, but it is a lot easier if you have no other job AND

lots and lots of money.

I stayed home when my children were very small, but I sewed their clothes, cooked meals and everything else. And, living on one income, we had it really, really hard.

When they went to school, I went back to work, and everything being a mother became much, much more difficult. It's easy to get dinner on the table at a regular time when you aren't working. When you come home tired and maybe a bit late from work, it's hard to get supper cooked and on the table for everyone.

Michelle Obama was a working mom. She had her mother to help her, but she knows what it is to have to miss a school performance because you have to work. Ann Romney does not know what it is to get up, cook breakfast for your kids, explain to your boss that the report will have to be submitted late or the meeting missed or the shift filled because you have to take your child to the doctor. Ann Romney does not know how that works.

I seriously doubt that Ann Romney did much other than be a wife and mother.

[Tom Ripley]

17. Bishop Romney's minions are striking out with this one. Next up? Breast Cancer Survivor!

Count on it

[emilyg]

18. She also has MS.

[The Second Stone]

19. Ann Romney's experiences are not a relevant subject of debate

she isn't running for anything.

[alp227]

35. Neither were Hillary Clinton's back in 1992.

Back then, the right wing and even some Democrats were whining about Hillary's "I could have stayed home and baked cookies" remark when Hillary defended her choice to be a lawyer.

[Jakes Progress]

53. It was entirely relevant to the situation.

Don't fall for the same crap that has distracted talking heads (and Obama) from the context of the statement.

ann was being touted as the source for mitty's advice on the economic situation for women in America. It is entirely relevant that his "source" is a multi-millionairre wife who has never worked for a living.

Don't follow the republican line on this.

[customerserviceguy]

21. The President and the First Lady did the right thing

There is absolutely no sense in getting caught up in the "stay-at-home" versus "working" women controversy. Hilary Rosen just threw a gallon of gasoline on that fire this week. The President and the rest of his campaign staff are smart enough to stay the hell away from that no-win battle.

[BlueMTexpat]

24. Hilary Rosen was absolutely right in what she said about Ann Romney's experience.

Perhaps she could have phrased it better. But it's the corporatocracy and its fully-owned MSM - as well as craven male Dems who seem to have missed the point altogether - who have tried to turn this into a "stay-at-home" mom versus "working women" controversy. That was simply not her point. Women "get" her point quite well.

How many "stay-at-home" moms do you know personally who have/had anything like the resources that Ann Romney did/does?

In fact, there are likely quite a few single dads and who have small kids - especially those men who have to work at lower-paying jobs, in part because they have kids and need to be available for those kids - who also "get" it.

[customerserviceguy]

28. The mistake was to focus on Ann Romney's resources

and not on Mitt Romney's resources. Namely, the resource of women who really know what it's like to hold down a job and take care of the kids, etc. It would have forced Mittens to find someone who's not directly on his payroll to mention, and I doubt he truly knows anyone like that.

There was no good reason for Hilary Rosen to even allude to Ann Romney, and having done so, she should not have screwed up an apology with an explanation. The President and the First Lady are astute enough to make sure they don't step into this, and I applaud them for doing whatever it takes to end this story and move back to the economic condition of the country.

[BlueMTexpat]

33. When you - and any other male Dems say,

"There was no good reason for Hilary Rosen to even allude to Ann Romney ...," I believe that you are also missing the point and allowing Rosen to be vilified and hung out to dry when it was her phraseology, not the facts nor her reference to Ann Romney, that is the problem.

I am also unhappy about male Dems piling on a female Dem for this. Very. And I am far from being alone. See, for example, the excellent Ruth Marcus post in today's WaPo. This is her conclusion, with which I agree one hundred per cent.

Again, really? When you enlist your wife for video testimonials, when you repeatedly punt to her on questions about What Women Want, it seems to me that she is decidedly on-limits.

Rosen erred in her seemingly dismissive phraseology, not in talking about the candidate’s wife. Romney opened the door to that.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/ann-romneys-not-your-typical-working-woman/2012/04/12/gIQAjMhbCT_blog.html?hpid=z8

By the way, Prez Obama in referring to the experience of his own mother could not have drawn the contrast more starkly or with more class. We women "get" that too, which is why everyone I know who has any intelligence at all supports him.

[former9thward]

34. I guess you call Mitchell Obama to be a "male Democrat" too.

[BlueMTexpat]

41. Who on earth is "Mitchell Obama?"

[former9thward]

47. Ohh I got a ticket by the typo police!

Of course when someone has nothing to say that is the only thing they can do.

[customerserviceguy]

39. So, being male invalidates my opinion?

Why not just put all of us guys on ignore then?

I hate to see us use identity politics in what should be a free discussion forum, but I guess it will always be a part of this place...

[BlueMTexpat]

40. I did not say that your opinion was invalidated.

I said that you were missing the point.

In looking at your response, I rest my case. Nice distraction technique.

[customerserviceguy]

49. Go back and look at your words

"Any other male Dems". Now, if that isn't stereotyping, I don't know what is. You want our opinions only when they agree with yours.

[BlueMTexpat]

50. Wow - why don't you read everything in my post?

You evidently pick and choose the words you want, stop there to have your contrived hissy-fit - just like those in the GOP who keep trying to characterize the Rosen-Romney situation as something it isn't and never was, despite the unfortunate phraseology - and be damned to the rest.

You evidently still don't "get" the Rosen-Romney furor. But plenty of people - male and female - do, although more females got it from the start. Prez Obama does, as witnessed by the way he finessed the situation.

Now the last time I checked, he looked to be pretty darn male.

In my immediate family, I have a very male husband, four very male sons (we're a blended family so two are not my birth sons but they are sons all the same), five very male grandsons and even one very male great-grandson - so far. I value their opinions and they often are quite different from mine, believe me.

What I don't care for are those males (and females, btw) who use opportunities to dump on a female whose actual point was correct even when her phraseology could have been much better-chosen.

[customerserviceguy]

51. Ok, then let's put it this way

You have males in your immediate family, great! Do you listen to any who you don't consider family?

Maybe that's what Hilary Rosen should have said. See, I didn't attack the males in your house, just your notion that they are representative of all males.

[BlueMTexpat]

52. The old adage that one can lead

a horse to water but not make it drink certainly applies. Judging by your responses to me, the point has either sailed right by you or you are determined to perpetrate a false premise about me for whatever reason.

The diversion technique in your first response to me outed you, but I kept hoping. No more.

[customerserviceguy]

54. And I kept hoping you'd get my point

Frankly, if I was a Repuke, I'd hope like crazy that this issue never dies, because the GOP has managed to turn it to their advantage. No, they're not convincing any progressive people, but I think it's winning with the mushy middle that is President Obama's to lose, and he knows it.

[MrSlayer]

25. It was smooth the way he drew the contrast by mentioning his mom.

And her situation as opposed to what poor Mrs. Romney had to deal with. Subtle and smart.

[BlueMTexpat]

26. I really don't believe that Ms Rosen was pitting working women against stay-at-home women.

In fact, very few thinking women believe that. But nice try, GOP!

The WaPos' Ruth Marcus got this one spot on, IMO.

...

But Rosen’s fundamental point — that Ann Romney’s experience is far from typical, that she has not grappled with the economic and family issues that face many women today — remains true.

You don’t have to be a combatant on either side of the Mommy Wars to recognize that Ann Romney’s privileged life experience is not typical. She’s never had to worry about the price of a gallon of gas as she filled up the Cadillacs. She is at the tail end of a generation that did not agonize over the choice of whether to stay home with the kids and from an economic platform that gave her the luxury of making that choice.

...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/ann-romneys-not-your-typical-working-woman/2012/04/12/gIQAjMhbCT_blog.html?hpid=z8

[SydBAThule]

27. IMHO the people who can’t see through

RMoney's BS would not vote of Obama or any Democrat anyway.

Democrats need to stop pandering to the people who will not under any circumstances vote Obama or Democrats.

They are just wasting their time and giving creditability to the nonsense being spewed by the right.

[liberal N proud]

29. Ann Romeny is Betty Draper

[6000eliot]

30. If only the media had forced this kind of apology for Limbaugh from Romney.

Double standard, anyone?

[AngryAmish]

31. Ann Romney should go eat a bag of dicks

[24601]

46. Where are you coming from on this? Is this a poorly-worded advocacy for coercing a woman to eat

penises? Or, is it a hate-filled called for violence against men that inherently includes removing their penises and keeping them in your penis bag?

Or is this intended as a compliment because you have 1st-hand experience in the subject and recommend it to others. [You have ruined my appitite this morning]

In either case, your comments are inappropriate and unworthy for DU. You are hereby elevated to the status of the creepy guy down the street that always comes out to water his lawn when the school bus drops off the middle-schoolers.

[SemperEadem]

32. with all due respect, Mr. President

your wife ALSO worked outside the home.

As was pointed out by most who have criticized ann romney's "let them eat cake" comment, your mother had no choice if she didn't want the state to come in and remove both you and your sister from her home.

Choice is the operative word here and a vast majority of American mothers do not have that choice.

Yes, moms who stay home with their children and take care of them and the home are working...

HOWEVER: when your husband brings home 8 figure salaries (hell, he doesn't even do that--he raids companies, fires everyone, send the jobs overseas, runs them to ground and takes the treasury and stashes it in off-shore accounts where he and you pay absolutely no taxes) and you have housekeepers, nannies, cooks, maids, groundskeepers, 5 homes and you don't have to be bothered with the day to day work of rearing your children--like most all other mothers do--that ain't working. Shuttling them off with the nanny so you can go get your facial and massage isn't working. That's availing yourself of the largess of your husband's ill-gotten gains without having to break a sweat for it.

Your sons have not even served in the military--you'd think as a presidential candidate, you'd impress that upon one of them to at least make a show of it. (and serving your church is not serving your country, btw.)

And to sit up and actually be offended by the truth being slung back in your teeth is comedy, girl.

The guilty always make the most noise.

Talk about being completely out of touch and off in a whole 'nother galaxy....

[Proles]

45. Well, according to republicans, Obama never worked

a day in his life, because he never had a "real" job (whatever that means).

[Hawkowl]

55. Obama's kneejerk reaction:

To fall down and slobber on the rich. Why am I not surprised? He constantly goes out of his way to blur distinctions between Rethuglicans and Democrats.