Flap over Ann Romney shows campaigns’ anxiety on women voters

(Reuters) – It began with a Democratic pundit’s comment late Wednesday on cable news that

seemed to criticize Mitt Romney’s wife, Ann, for choosing to stay home and raise their five sons rather than

work.

Thanks to

social media, the remark quickly escalated into a fracas over the role of women in American society.

It gave Mitt

Romney, the likely Republican nominee for president who is scrambling to improve his ratings among women voters, a chance to

reach out to them through his wife. And it sent Democratic President Obama’s top campaign staff members – and by Thursday

afternoon, the president and first lady – rushing to disavow the pundit’s remark.

The pundit was Hilary Rosen, who

has advised the Democratic National Committee. During an interview on CNN, she tried to make the point that Ann Romney, as

the wife of a wealthy private equity executive, does not understand many of the economic challenges faced by typical

Americans.

But she slipped by saying that Mrs. Romney, 62, had “never worked a day in her life.”

Mitt Romney’s

campaign – which saw his ratings among women take a dive as Republican presidential candidates sparred over abortion,

contraception and other divisive social issues – seized the moment.

Ann Romney launched her own Twitter account after

Rosen’s interview, and she used her first-ever tweet to say: “I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me,

it was hard work.”

That set off alarms among Democrats, who are keen to hold on to Obama’s current advantage among

women in a November 6 election in which women voters could tip the balance.

“I could not disagree with Hilary Rosen

any more strongly. Her comments were wrong and family should be off limits. She should apologize,” Obama campaign director

Jim Messina tweeted, shortly after Rosen spoke.

David Axelrod, a top adviser to Obama’s campaign, also weighed in

quickly on Twitter, calling Rosen’s comments “inappropriate and offensive.”

The president spoke up Thursday

afternoon, telling an Iowa television station that “there’s no tougher job than being a mom.

“I don’t have a lot of

patience for commentary about the spouses of political candidates,” Obama said during an interview with KCRG-TV in Cedar

Rapids. “My general view is those of us who are in the public life, we’re fair game. Our families are civilians.”

The

rapid responses by both candidates’ staffs showed the power of social media in shaping a campaign’s narrative, and the

sensitivity with which both campaigns view their efforts to appeal to women.

Various polls have indicated that Romney

leads Obama among male voters, but that Romney trails the president among women by about 20 percentage points.

“This

is an obvious ploy by both sides to try and demonstrate that they understand women voters and especially women dealing with

families,” said Jennifer Lawless, director of American University’s Women and Politics Institute.

THE FIRST LADY

TWEETS

The controversy mushroomed on social media on Thursday.

First lady Michelle Obama also commented on her

own Twitter account, saying, “Every mother works hard, and every woman deserves to be respected.”

And Obama’s press

secretary, Jay Carney, spoke about the controversy for several minutes at the start of the daily White House press

briefing.

“I think we can all agree – Democrats and Republicans – that raising children is an extremely difficult

job,” Carney said. “And that is true for all mothers, as well as fathers.”

Women make up about 53 percent of the U.S.

electorate. In a way, the controversy over Rosin’s comments underscored the impact that former Pennsylvania Senator Rick

Santorum had on the campaign, and the challenge he left for Romney when Santorum left the race this week.

Santorum is

known for his strong opposition to abortion and contraception, as well as his belief that religion should play a larger role

in public life. As Santorum made such issues a part of the debate in the Republican campaign, support among women for Romney

– the Republican front-runner – declined.

“The GOP primary has had a focus on abortion, contraception, and other

issues that disproportionately affect women,” said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for

Politics. “Let’s just say the Republicans haven’t put themselves in a good light.

“The GOP has moved right along

with its evangelical and Tea Party base, and Santorum also drove much of the social issue commentary,” he said.

A

SMALL BOOST FOR MITT ROMNEY?

Republican strategist Ron Christie said, “The reason this has enveloped the political

establishment in the United States is that Ms. Rosen’s remarks seemed indifferent to the struggles faced by women who elect

to remain home with their children. I think the Romney campaign will get a short term boost from this

controversy.”

Susan Carroll, senior scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, said

the flap allowed Mitt Romney to change the subject at a time when the Obama campaign has been hammering the Republicans for

waging a “war on women” with a budget plan that would lower taxes for the rich while cutting programs that polls indicate are

particularly important to women.

Social media, with its ability to grab a message and make it global within minutes,

helped fuel the fire. Four years ago, Rosen’s comments might have faded quickly, but Ann Romney’s instant tweet – and the

Democrats’ quick responses – kept the issue alive.

“I do think what’s going on Twitter is helping make the flap

bigger than it otherwise would be,” said Liz Mair, a Republican communications strategist.

Rosen eventually apologized

on Thursday. “Let’s declare peace in this phony war and go back to focus on the substance,” she said in a

statement.

“As a mom I know that raising children is the hardest job there is,” Rosen said. “As a pundit, I know my

words on CNN last night were poorly chosen.”

(Editing by David Lindsey and Cynthia Osterman)