Ann Romney (Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — What started as Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen insulting Ann Romney for being a stay-at-home mom grew into a political atom bomb yesterday that blew up in President Obama’s face.
Rosen had to suck it up and apologize, but the incendiary damage was already done by her accusing Mrs. Romney of having “never worked a day in her life.”
The political fallout meant Obama — battling to retain his lead among women voters — had to wade in personally to denounce the remarks and say, “There’s no tougher job than being a mom.”
In an interview with KCRG-TV in Iowa, he said spouses and families of candidates should be off-limits to commentary.
“My general view is those of us who are in the public life, we’re fair game. Our families are civilians,” he said. “I haven’t met Mrs. Romney, but she seems like a very nice woman who is supportive of her family and supportive of her husband.”
Rosen set off the firestorm during an appearance on CNN Wednesday night when she mocked Mitt Romney for relying on his wife for advice on the economy and its impact on women.
“Guess what — his wife has actually never worked a day in her life,” Rosen declared on CNN, where she is a paid commentator.
Camp Romney seized on the Rosen insult immediately. Ann Romney dashed off a tweet that same night, and yesterday hit the airwaves to personally push back.
“She should have come to my house when those five boys were causing so much trouble,” Ann Romney quipped with a wry smile on Fox News Channel. “It wasn’t so easy.”
“My career choice was to be a mother . . . We need to respect choices that women make,” she said, noting that other women choose to combine a career with motherhood.
“I think Hilary did that,” she said of Rosen. “I respect that, that’s wonderful.”
Ann Romney got deadly serious when responding to Rosen’s criticism that her husband doesn’t understand women.
“Now that bothers me,” she said, noting that her husband has always surrounded himself with top female advisers.
Rosen, who works for the Democratic consulting outfit SDKnickerbocker, yesterday admitted her demeaning words about Ann Romney, who raised five sons and suffers from multiple sclerosis, were “poorly chosen.”
“I apologize to Ann Romney and anyone else who was offended,” Rosen, a frequent White House visitor, said in a statement.
The mea culpa followed stinging rebukes of Rosen from Republicans and Democrats alike.
Michelle Obama took Rosen to the woodshed yesterday with a stern post on Twitter: “Every mother works hard, and every woman deserves to be respected. –mo.”
The “mo” indicated that the first lady herself — not her staff — tapped out the message.
White House spokesman Jay Carney dodged questions about records showing Rosen visited the White House 35 times, three times as often as Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
“I do not know how many times she’s been here,” Carney told reporters at the daily briefing. “I have not seen her here very recently.”
He said he didn’t know “how to assess her overall relationship with the White House.”
Everyone tied to Rosen was trying to distance themselves.
Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who earlier this year hired Rosen to coach her for TV appearances, tweeted that she was “disappointed” in Rosen.
“As a mother of three, there’s no doubt that raising children is work,” the Florida congresswoman said.
The Democratic affront to stay- at-home moms couldn’t have come at a better time for Romney, who is struggling to narrow Obama’s wide lead among women voters.
A day earlier, Democrats were accusing Romney of waging a “war on women.” Suddenly, the Romney camp could turn the tables and declare it was Obama’s war.
In her apology, Rosen also tried to downplay how insulting her comment was to homemakers.
“Let’s put the faux ‘war against stay-at-home moms’ to rest once and for all,” she said. “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.”
The rage against Rosen spread like wildfire on Twitter right after she made the remark — and it burned even hotter yesterday.
She resisted giving the apology throughout the day. She posted a screed on the CNN Web site defending her remarks, noting she has two kids, and called raising them “the hardest job I have ever had.”
Rosen stepped on a political land mine that last blew up on Hillary Rodham Clinton 20 years ago when she famously said she could have stayed home and baked cookies, but decided instead to fulfill her career.