Stop Apologizing Hilary!

Bill Mahr wrote a column in the Times recently on the "Apology Problem."  If you don't know what that is you haven't been paying close attention to the recent political scene.  Whenever a politician, or one of his supporters, slips and tells a home truth, he or she is forced by the media to apologize.  The latest example is Hilary Rosen, a Democratic strategist, apologizing to Ann Romney. Here's what Rosen said:

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.' Guess what? His wife has actually never worked a day in her life.

It's true that Ann Romney has never earned a paycheck (unless one views the money her husband gives her for hats and shoes a paycheck) and even more true that she's not qualified to talk about the effect the recession economy has had on women.  It's also true that Romney repeatedly uses his wife Ann to talk about women and the economy as he attacks Obama for a recession caused by Republicans.  


It's more than legitimate that someone, anyone, should point out that Ann Romney has no clue how the majority of women in our society cope in this recession economy. Ann Romney's response to Rosen was that she stayed home to raise five sons, and that's hard work.  Oh, please!  My mother had five children and worked full time from the time we were quite young, and not for the fun of it, or at a fun job.  She cleaned undergarments at Maidenform to help feed, clothe, and educate her five children. And then she came home and made dinner for us and my father.  She spent her weekends doing housework. We helped some at home but not much I'm ashamed to admit.  


Women now make up 49.5% of the work force and most married women are not working for fun, but for the same reason my mother worked, necessity. Ann Romney has no idea what it's like to raise a family while working full time (and she had household help), and I can promise Mitt Romney that his wife is not going to change the current dynamic (Obama has a 19% favorability rating over Romney among women) if he persists in using his wife as his economic guru.  Women are not stupid, Mitt!  Well, at least not most women.