Here's an apology from Rosen
“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 poor record on the plight of women’s financial struggles …
“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 [on stay at home moms] and go back to focus on the substance.”
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Step over here, Junior.
Now...I may not be no big city political strategist. But as a casual observer of politics, and as somebody who has existed in The World At All, I have learned at least one thing:
Don't attack a candidate's spouse. Do not. Do NOT attack a candidate's spouse. You know, like that one Democratic Strategist who said on CNN that Romney's wife hasn't worked a day in her life. I guarantee that the Dem's stellar lead with female voters took a hit today.
Whether or not you can comprehend why this "hasn't worked a day in her life" thing is a problem JUST remember this BY ROTE: DO NOT attack a candidate's spouse. Do not attack a candidate's spouse. Do NOT attack a candidate's spouse. DO NOT attack a candidate's spouse.
Got that? Say it with me now: Don't attack a candidate's spouse. DO NOT. DO NOT attack a candidate's spouse. DO. NOT. ATTACK. A. CANDIDATE'S. SPOUSE. Do not attack a canditate's spouse.
Do not attack a candidate's spouse. If that's too vague, then just don't TALK about them. At all.
Now just in case you missed it, I want to emphasize DO NOT attack a candidate's spouse. DO. NOT.
Is that getting through? Honestly, I can do this all day long. I've been helping my son with his times tables and I can spend long periods of time on memorization tasks.
I want to be absolutely sure that you're getting this. Don't attack a candidate's spouse. Remember that whole Hillary Clinton thing about Laura Bush's staying at home making cookies and having teas thing. Did that play out well? Or did that play into some narrative of Liberals hating on traditional family and looking down their noses at stay at home mothers?
Here's the lesson. DO NOT attack a candidate's spouse. Do NOT attack a candidate's spouse. Do NOT attack a candidate's spouse. Do NOT attack a candidate's spouse. Do NOT attack a candidate's spouse. Do NOT attack a candidate's spouse. Do NOT attack a candidate's spouse. Do NOT attack a candidate's spouse. Do NOT attack a candidate's spouse. Do NOT attack a candidate's spouse. Do NOT attack a candidate's spouse. Do NOT attack a candidate's spouse. Do NOT attack a candidate's spouse. Do NOT attack a candidate's spouse. Do NOT attack a candidate's spouse. Do NOT attack a candidate's spouse. Do NOT attack a candidate's spouse. Do NOT attack a candidate's spouse. Do NOT attack a candidate's spouse.
I can't say I know what it's like to live in a female's world.
But I can say this. I've been a stay at home parent. I was a stay at home parent for three years, watching my two little boys. And my hair and dander raises when I hear the hint of mention that a parent Does Not Work.
Now don't give me the whole So and So has a nanny and a maid crap. Because that's not the point. I know that was SUPPOSED to be the point.
But it only works in the mind of somebody who isn't thinking about all those Americans who, either by choice or by circumstance, do not work and stay home with the kids. And it makes you look like you're looking down on us. And it plays right into the same exact narrative that got Dems hammered years ago.
Let's just put it this way....it's not a populist message.
Whether or not you can get that sort of thing through your head, just remember: Do not talk about a candidate's spouse.