The Hilary Rosen boomlet has passed without making any real waves for President Obama, DNC spokesperson Brad Woodhouse told reporters on a conference call Wednesday.
Asked by a reporter if the Rosen controversy — caused when the CNN contributor said Ann Romney has “never worked a day in her life” — made it tougher for Obama and Democrats to continue pushing their message that Republicans are bad for the female electorate, Woodhouse said Rosengate has caused no change in the divide between Romney and Obama when it comes to women.
“There’s actually not bit of proof that this brouhaha about what a pundit said on TV has any impact on the race,” he said. “The CNN poll, interestingly enough from the network that this occurred on showed the president had a 16-point lead over Romney with women. And when you ask about who caress about issues relative to women, the president has a 28-point lead, 55-27.”
Democrats and their allies have said over and over that the substance of the fight for women voters — centered on GOP legislation in Congress and the states that women’s groups have decried — will be more important than the Rosen controversy. A Republican observer told TPM Monday that Rosen has helped to consolidate the GOP base around Romney.
Woodhouse said the legislative battles will continue to be the deciding factor for women, and that’s a good thing for Obama. The legal fights are “going to be a lot more convincing to voters and to women voters than some made up controversy here in Washington,” he said.
