Hilary Rosen last night on CNN:
HiLARY ROSEN: Well, first, can we just get rid of this word, “war on women”? The Obama campaign does not use it, President Obama does not use it — this is something that the Republicans are accusing people of using, but they’re actually the ones spreading it. With respect to economic issues, I think actually that Mitt Romney’s right, that ultimately, women care more about the economic well-being of their families and the like. But he doesn’t connect on that issue either. 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 never actually worked a day in her life. She’s never really dealt with the economic issues that a majority of the women in this country are facing — in terms of how do we feed our kids, how do we send them to school, and how do — why we worry about their future.
All of the focus so far has been on Rosen’s idiotic — and idiotically tone deaf — slap at Mrs. Romney (see Brother Jim Geraghty’s Morning Jolt for a lengthy rundown of that.).
What I think hasn’t gotten enough attention is this bit: “Well, first, can we just get rid of this word, ‘war on women’? The Obama campaign does not use it, President Obama does not use it — this is something that the Republicans are accusing people of using, but they’re actually the ones spreading it.”
Really? Republicans are unfairly accusing Democrats of using the “war on women” line when it’s really Republicans spreading it in order to defame Dems? Good lord, who told her to trot that out?
I searched my e-mail box and found dozens of fundraising e-mails from Democrats:
From Nancy Pelosi:
Jonah –
We’re close to an incredible milestone in our campaign to stop endless Republican extremism.
As of this moment, we are just 121 donations short of the most contributions we’ve ever had on a single day.
Only a few short hours remain before the midnight Federal Election Commission deadline. Will you put us over the top?
Contribute $3 before midnight and we’ll triple-match your gift >>
Together, we’ll put an end to the Republicans’ unrelenting war on women, seniors, and the middle class.
Thank you,
Nancy
From James Carville:
The GOP’s contraception hearing was a top secret treehouse: No Girls Allowed. They’ve branded birth control pills a weapon of mass destruction. Their idea of a health care system is a Band-Aid and a bottle of aspirin. I laugh to keep from throwing stuff. These guys are dangerous. They will do anything to win – whether it’s waging war on women or imploding our economy. They’ve released the right-wing hounds on President Obama and our Democratic Senate. We have a whopping 23 seats to defend. They only need to win 4.
From Donna Brazille:
The right wing will do anything to destroy President Obama – including waging war on women’s health rights and burning the entire economy to the ground. It’s time to pull the fire alarm.
And so on.
Now, I haven’t seen the phrase used in an e-mail from the Obama campaign itself. Then again, I delete most of these fundraising e-mails when they come in. The ones I found amount to the baloney that escaped the grinder. But Rosen does know that Obama is the head of the Democratic Party right? She does know that his DNC is pushing this WoW stuff to the hilt right? She does know that his campaign manager calls Romney the “most radically anti-women candidate in a generation.”
But no, really, it’s the GOP that is spreading the false charge that Democrats are the ones talking about a “war on women.”