The NBC and CBS morning shows on Thursday completely skipped any mention
of a nasty attack on Ann Romney by Democratic National Committee
adviser (and frequent White House visitor ) Hilary Rosen. Today and CBS This Morning both ignored Rosen's insult that Mrs. Romney "has actually never worked a day in her life."
Rosen's remarks were made on Wednesday's Anderson Cooper. Today
did highlight news coming out of that CNN show, but it wasn't the Rosen
story.
It was Cooper's riveting "attack of the giggles" that Natalie
Morales marveled over: "The CNN host just couldn't keep it together" and
suffered a case of the "sillies." This, apparently, was the more
important news emanating from Anderson Cooper 360.
Only ABC's Good Morning America actually covered the story.
Anchor George Stephanopoulos explained "all that talk about a war on
women in this presidential race is getting personal with a Democratic
strategist taking off on Mitt Romney's wife."
However, the ABC graphic oddly put the focus on Ann Romney and not the
Democratic operative: "Ann Romney Controversy: Defends Being a Full Time
Mom."
While ABC should be given credit for covering the story, correspondent
John Berman made sure to highlight, "All of this comes as Romney tries
to close a big gender gap. Our latest poll gives the President a
19-point advantage with women."
A transcript of the April 12 segment can be found below:
7:01 tease
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Also, boy, this presidential race is heating up
so fast. Ann Romney right there, forced into the fray last night. It's
all part of the big battle for women voters. She went to Twitter to
defend her choice to be a stay-at-home mom. We're going to get to that.
7:15
ABC GRAPHIC: Ann Romney Controversy: Defends Being a Full Time Mom
STEPHANOPOULOS: We're going to turn to politics now. Your
voice, your vote and all that talk about a war on women in this
presidential race is getting personal with a Democratic strategist
taking off on Mitt Romney's wife. And Ann Romney striking back
immediately on Twitter. It all happened overnight. And ABC's John Berman
here with all of the details. Good morning, John.
JOHN
BERMAN: You know, George, the second this happened overnight, you knew
it would explode. It puts Ann Romney right in the middle of a white-hot
debate that deals with politics and motherhood. It began when Hillary
Rosen, an adviser to the Democratic National Committee, said this on CNN
about Ann Romney, who raised five sons.
HILARY ROSEN: What you have is Mitt Romney running around the country
saying, "well, my wife tells me 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.
BERMAN:
Boom. Instant Twitter explosion! Ann Romney firing back with her first
tweet ever. "I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe
me, it was hard work." Her son Josh jumping in. "Ann Romney is one of
the smartest, hardest working women I know. Could have done anything
with her life. Chose to raise me." But Rosen didn't back down.
Responding, "I'm raising children, too. But most young American women
have to both earn a living and raise children. You know that, don't
you?" All of this comes as Romney tries to close a big gender gap. Our latest poll gives the President a 19-point advantage with women.
And while Rosen doesn't work for the Obama campaign, campaign manager
Jim Messina engaged in instant damage control. "I could not disagree
with Hillary Rosen any more strongly. Her comments were wrong and
families should be off limits. She should apologize." You know, Rosen
later wrote an article, saying what she was questioning was Ann Romney's
connection to women and their economic problems. I'm sure you'll hear
more from Mrs. Romney today. George?
STEPHANOPOULOS: No question about that. John, thanks very much.
-- Scott Whitlock is the senior news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
