FOXNews.com: Dem: Romney Remarks Were 'Poorly Chosen'

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Dem: Romney Remarks Were 'Poorly Chosen' Apr 12th 2012, 21:21 Democratic strategist and CNN contributor Hilary Rosen apologized Thursday to Ann Romney, wife of presumptive GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, for criticizing her choice to be a stay-at-home mother. "I apologize to Ann Romney and anyone else who was offended," Rosen said in statement. Rosen sparked a firestorm of criticism by suggesting Wednesday evening on CNN that Romney was not qualified to help her husband on the campaign trail address women's issues.  "Guess what, (Romney's) wife has actually never worked a day in her life," said Rosen, who has twins with ex-partner Elizabeth Birch. In her apology, Rosen also said: "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." Minutes earlier, the White House on Thursday ducked a head-on rebuke of Rosen. Spokesman Jay Carney instead dove into recitation of  campaign talking points and numbers including those on how the private sector, under the president, has created jobs for 25 straights months and how a proposed GOP-backed budget would cut services to single-mothers, women teachers and others.  "I could go on," Carney said during the daily White House press briefing.  He also attempted to distance the president from Rosen by saying he could not confirm reporting that she has made 35 visits to the Obama White House and that he could not characterize how close she is to the administration. "I don't know how to assess her overall relationship with the White House," he said. The strategy was a departure from that of top Obama campaign officials who scrambled this morning to distance the reelection effort from Rosen's remarks.  Ann Romney, who has raised five children, said this morning on Fox News Channel that her career choice was to be a mother and that Rosen should have been in her house when "those boys caused so much trouble."  However, she struck a far more serious tone when asked about Rosen's comment about her husband not understanding women and their needs. "Now that bothers me," Romney said, pointing out her husband has surrounded himself with top female advisers at least since his days as Massachusetts governor. "Hilary needs to know this," she also said. Women on the campaign trail are "talking about jobs and the legacy of debt they're leaving their children." Rosen returned to the network about 30 minutes before Romney appeared on Fox to say, "They're attacking me. That's fine, but it does not erase (Mitt Romney's) woeful record" on women's issues. She also blamed Republicans for focusing on her comments, rather than on the issue of whether Romney understands the concerns of working women. "This really isn't about stay-at-home vs. working moms," she said. "I have kids. It's the hardest job I've ever had. Romney has brought his wife into conversation. ... It's strategic to attack me rather than talk about the issues." After Rosen's original remarks, Ann Romney immediately responded with a debut tweet, sparking a Twitter storm. "I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys," tweeted Romney, a 64-year-old mother of five and grandmother of 16. "Believe me, it was hard work." Top Obama campaign officials then took to Twitter in an attempt to distance themselves and the re-election effort from Rosen's comments. "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 manager Jim Messina said in a tweet. Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod tweeted: "Also Disappointed in Hilary Rosen's comments about Ann Romney. They were inappropriate and offensive." Rosen continued to tweet herself, adding, "I've nothing against @AnnRomney. I just don't want Mitt using her as an expert on women struggling $ to support their family. She isn't." And later: "@AnnDRomney Please know, I admire you. But your husband shouldn't say you are his expert on women and the economy," Rosen tweeted. Democrats have attempted to portray Republicans during the election season as being unresponsive to women's issues, in an attempt to secure the key female voting bloc for President Obama. Rosen has twins with Elizabeth Birch, with whom she separated in 2006. She was in 2004 the interim director for the Human Rights Campaign, a leading gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender lobbyist organization. Birch was the executive director of the group for eight years There were roughly 5 million stay-at-home moms in 2010, roughly the same as the 5.1 million in 2009, and 5.3 million in 2008.  In 2010, 23 percent of married-couple family groups with children under 15 had a stay-at-home mother, up from 21 percent in 2000. In 2007, before the recession, stay-at-home mothers were found in 24 percent of married-couple family groups with children under 15, according to the America's Families and Living Arrangements.

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