“Hilary Rosen, a Democratic operative with SKD Knickerbocker, touched off a Twitter storm tonight after she went on CNN and said that Ann Romney has “never worked a day in her life.”

The statement was tweeted and retweeted, with a number of people condemning the statement as an attack on the candidate’s wife, who was a stay-at-home mom who also raised the couple’s five boys, and who has suffered from MS and breast cancer.

Ann Romney, who is widely praised as her husband’s most effective surrogate, took to Twitter herself for her first-ever post, saying, “I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work.”

A number of people leapt to her defense, and President Obama’s campaign manager Jim Messina and top adviser David Axelrod tweeted out disavowals of a statement that seemed insensitive to stay-at-home moms and sounded like a devaluation of what Ann Romney’s life was like.

“I could not disagree with Hilary Rosen any more strongly. Her comments were wrong and family should be off limits. She should apologize,” Messina tweeted.

“Also Disappointed in Hilary Rosen’s comments about Ann Romney. They were inappropriate and offensive,” Axelrod tweeted.

Rosen’s firm also employs Anita Dunn, former White House communications director, and worked on the Obama campaign in 2008. Her critics on Twitter described her as an “Obama adviser,” just a bit of a stretch in description, but not enough of one for some critics, especially after Democrats have hit Republicans for guilt by association with people like Rush Limbaugh for months.

Regardless, Rosen doubled down — tweeting back at Ann Romney, “I am raising children too. But most young American women HAVE to BOTH earn a living AND raise children. You know that don’t u?”

Thanks to Rosen the GOP now has the firepower to turn the DNC’s faux “GOP’s War on Women” on it’s head, and give birth to the “DNC’s War on Stay at Home Moms”.

UPDATE: Follow the Twitter back and forth on Twitchy.

“CHARLESTON, S.C. — Jon M. Huntsman Jr. will announce Monday that he is ending his bid for the Republican presidential nomination and endorsing Mitt Romney, narrowing the field and erasing a challenge to Mr. Romney from the moderate wing of his party.

Mr. Huntsman, who had hoped to use the South Carolina primary this week to revive his flagging candidacy, informed his advisers on Sunday that he was bowing to political reality and would back Mr. Romney, whom he accused a week ago of putting party ahead of country.

Mr. Huntsman, who had struggled to live up to the early expectations of his candidacy, was to deliver a speech Monday morning in Myrtle Beach, where the five remaining major Republican candidates will gather hours later for a debate. His endorsement of Mr. Romney is indication of the party establishment getting behind Mr. Romney and trying to focus the party on defeating President Obama.

“The governor and his family, at this point in the race, decided it was time for Republicans to rally around a candidate who could beat Barack Obama and turn around the economy,” Matt David, Mr. Huntsman’s campaign manager, said in an interview Sunday evening. “That candidate is Gov. Mitt Romney.”

1. Win goes to Newt Gingrich, and Romney for slapping back the obvious Obama-Bias of George Stephanopoulos who acted every bit the democratic operative he is.

2. The top three, Romney, Santorium and Gingrich did themselves no harm but didn’t emerge any further ahead than they were.

3. The obvious strategy of Gingrich and Santorium was to go after Romney. Gingrich scored a valid point on Romney (always running), where he said that while Governor Romney spent over 200 days on the campaign trail readying for the 2008 presidential compaign.

4. Romney will win the NH primary with room to spare.

“NewsCore) – Incoming House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who has a well-known tendency to cry, will tear up again on CBS’s “60 Minutes” airing Sunday night.

Boehner has gotten teary in the past when discussing everything from the troop surge in Iraq to the bank bailout; the loss of his leadership position in 1998 to the Republican Party’s victories in the 2010 midterm elections.

According to a CBS report about its show, Boehner “cried several times during interviews, on topics such as his family and his principles.”

The report also notes that the Ohio Republican tells interviewer Leslie Stahl that the House’s first vote next month will be to shave congressional budgets by five percent — his first step toward cutting the deficit.”

“So in return for continuing the fiscally irresponsible and economically unsuccessful Bush tax policy, Democrats receive a desperately necessary extension of jobless benefits of the sort that used to be completely uncontroversial until this Congress came to town, as well as some helpful tax breaks for the working class that Republicans likely would have supported under any circumstance.”

Read through to the links in the comments. They’re coming apart in Progressive Land.

Over at National Review:

“President Obama has now moved into the second phase of capitulation. He has agreed to delay any tax increases, on anyone, for at least two years. The top marginal income-tax rate will stay at 35 percent; the dividend and capital-gains tax rates will stay at 15 percent. Over the next two years, the estate tax will be lower than it has been for almost any part of the last decade. The president has also agreed to an additional reduction in tax rates: Payroll taxes will also be temporarily reduced. And his own administration’s best policy proposal, allowing businesses to deduct the full cost of all investment expenses over the next two years, is also included in the deal.

What liberals got out of the deal was the extension of some of their favorite tax credits and, above all, a 13-month extension of federal subsidies for unemployment benefits — with no compensatory spending cuts. This stretches subsidies for the jobless out to three years. It’s far from our ideal policy, but the deal is still worth taking: If it won’t do much good for the economy, it will avert a serious blow to it.

It is possible that Republicans could have gotten an even better deal next year, since their numbers in Congress will increase in January. But that would have left them having to cut taxes retroactively and left households paying first higher and then lower taxes. Acting now reduces both uncertainty and volatility. Republicans can now spend the next two years advancing spending cuts and long-term tax reform.”

When the GOP takes control of congress in January the cutting of the budget will begin. A huge win.

We can add Florida to that important mix as well. Why this important is that because of the 2010 redistricting is about to take place and the GOP is in the catbird seat in four of the most important states, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.

Yes California would have been welcome, but then California hasn’t gone GOP since Reagan. All total the redrawing of 190 congressional districts is in the GOP’s power. That’s huge. Remember that as we gear up for 2012.

GOP Election 2012 Redistricting

DO WHAT WE ELECTED YOU TO DO OR WE’ll BANISH YOU AGAIN.

Make no mistake, we want core conservative action on the Obama agenda.

1. Repeal Obamacare. Don’t “fix it”, REPEAL IT! The majority of Americans want it repealed. We don’t care how you do it, if you want to remain in control repeal it.

2. Extend the Bush tax cuts for EVERYONE NOW.

3. Push a marriage amendment to the constitution.

4. Cut by 50% the size of the federal government by 2012.

5. Get out of Afghanistan. The battle is over, it’s time to move on. Iran is arming up.

6. CUT EARMARKS!!

7. Gain Energy dependence. Yeah, DRILL BABY DRILL.

GOP Tea Party Congress

“It’s the season of the surprise endorsement.

Earlier today, Republican state Sen. Alex Villalobos announced he was supporting Democrat Alex Sink for governor over Republican candidate Rick Scott. In a prepared statement, Villalobos called Sink “the only candidate running with the integrity and character needed to lead our state,” an apparent swipe at Scott’s history running a chain of hospitals that pleaded guilty to Medicare fraud. “With her decades of respected business experience, I know she is a fiscal conservative who we can trust to move our state forward and work in a bipartisan way to find solutions to Florida’s challenges,” Villalobos stated.

Sink earlier won the endorsements of the police unions, the PBA and FOP — the first time in 20 years both unions endorsed a Democrat.

Seeing how important it is to keep the Governorship Red in Florida you can truly call this party treason. As such we need to make sure that Villalobos doesn’t get reelected in 2010. Additionally he just came out and endorsed State Senator and Democratic candidate for Attorney General Dan Gelber (D-Miami Beach), his old cuban drinking buddy and worked with him at a law firm some time back. Little wonder that Jeb Bush worked against this RINO’s reelection in 2006. He’s term limited now.

More on the RINO:

“J. Alex Villalobos is a Republican member of the Florida Senate, representing the 38th District since 2001. Previously he was a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 1993 through 2000. He served as the Republican Majority Whip from 2001-2002 and as the Republican Majority Leader from 2004-2006 in the Florida Senate.”

His Vote Smart Profile is here.

You can contact the Florida GOP to voice your displeasure.

420 E. Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, FL 32301 OR PO BOX 311 Tallahassee, FL 32302
Phone: 850.222.7920 / Fax: 850.681.0184

Again, since Villalobos is term limited we need to black ball his ass for any future GOP support.

Alex Sink
Alex Villalobos

Jobs:

- Stop job-killing tax hikes

- Allow small businesses to take a tax deduction equal to 20 percent of their income

- Require congressional approval for any new federal regulation that would add to the deficit

- Repeal small business mandates in the new health care law.

Cutting Spending:

- Repeal and Replace health care

- Roll back non-discretionary spending to 2008 levels before TARP and stimulus (will save $100 billion in first year alone)

- Establish strict budget caps to limit federal spending going forward

- Cancel all future TARP payments and reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Reforming Congress:

- Will require that every bill have a citation of constitutional authority

- Give members at least 3 days to read bills before a vote

Defense:

- Provide resources to troops

- Fund missile defense

- Enforce sanctions in Iran

These are all good, but I suspect that the “repeal healthcare” will get the greatest amount of wear in the media. Up to now the GOP hasn’t said fully that it would work to repeal Obamacare, but with a majority of Americans calling for it, the GOP had to go with it.

What the reaction from fellow conservatives? The editors at NRO are pleased.

“All year long, conservatives have been pressuring Republicans to release a Contract with America for 2010 — an updated version of the campaign platform that the party unveiled before its 1994 sweep of Congress. Thursday morning, Republican congressmen are responding to that pressure by making a “Pledge to America.” The inevitable question will be: Is the pledge as bold as the Contract?

The answer is: The pledge is bolder. The Contract with America merely promised to hold votes on popular bills that had been bottled up during decades of Democratic control of the House. The pledge commits Republicans to working toward a broad conservative agenda that, if implemented, would make the federal government significantly smaller, Congress more accountable, and America more prosperous.”

UPDATE: Erik Erickson

“These 21 pages tell you lots of things, some contradictory things, but mostly this: it is a serious of compromises and milquetoast rhetorical flourishes in search of unanimity among House Republicans because the House GOP does not have the fortitude to lead boldly in opposition to Barack Obama.

I have one message for John Boehner, Eric Cantor, and the House GOP Leadership: If they do not want to use the GOP to lead, I would like to borrow it for a time.

Yes, yes, it is full of mom tested, kid approved pablum that will make certain hearts on the right sing in solidarity. But like a diet full of sugar, it will actually do nothing but keep making Washington fatter before we crash from the sugar high.

It is dreck.”

I think Eric is nitpicking. Yeah there is much that is missing, but this isn’t 1994. We needed 800 plus pages back then to cover 40 years of Democratic control. We now only need 21 to remind people of what they already believe. It’s only taken Democrats 4 years to wipe out any clout they had with the American people, there’s not much we really need to “contract” with them. They’re moving to the right in droves and quite frankly are leery of “promises”.

Again if they can repeal Obamacare it would go a long way to showing America that they mean to do what they say.

The GOP can’t “talk” of returning the nation to conservative principles, he has to do it. They’ll get the chance come November. It’s time to walk the talk.

GOP
Pledge to America
Election 2010

“ABC News’ Jonathan Karl reports: I caught up with a jubilant Senator Jim DeMint today on Capitol Hill clearly relishing the victory of his candidate in the Delaware Republican Senate primary.

DeMint infuriated GOP leaders by endorsing Christine O’Donnell over Mike Castle in Delaware, just as he had infuriated them with his early endorsements of Marco Rubio (back when Charlie Crist was a Republican) and Ken Buck. But, once again, DeMint’s candidate prevailed over the candidate boosted by the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee.  He set out to transform the Republican party and it looks like he just might be pulling it off.  Even the long-shot candidate he endorsed in New Hampshire – Ovide LaMontagne – came close to pulling off an upset victory last night.

But, still, Senate Republicans are fuming about DeMint, convinced his actions are helping to doom their chances of taking back the Senate.

I asked Senator DeMint if he’ll have any regrets if come November 3rd he realizes Republicans blew their chance at winning a majority because some of the candidates he supported lost.

“No. I’ve been in the majority with Republicans who didn’t have principles and we embarrassed ourselves and lost credibility in front of the country. Frankly, I’m at a point where I’d rather lose fighting for the right cause then win fighting for the wrong cause,” he told me.”

Which is exactly right.  We lost in 2006 and 2008 because we indeed forgot the core conservative principles that gave us power in 1994-2005.   The American people didn’t elect democrats in those elections as they did sending a message to the GOP.   Americans are by and large conservative in their views and want conservative governing.   They don’t want liberalism – they’re rejecting that outright now.  They don’t want “liberal-light” as they got with the willy-nilly GOP of 2002-2006.

The milktoast establishment of entrenched RINOs which infected our party is fuming that their time has come to exit the stage.  They won’t go quietly, but they will go.  The conservative movement isn’t a wake, it’s a tsunami  and it’s going to sweep them away if they don’t get with the program.

I too do not want an majority simply to have a majority if it means nothing but a return to infective RINOISM.   Beltway GOPers don’t care so long as they can claim an “R” in the column.  Unforturnately as far as they are concerned it wouldn’t matter if it Joe Biden, Barack Obama or Mike Castle.   All three as far as their records have much in common and the current GOP leader is too intrenched in their own stupidity to see it.

Jim DeMint
GOP
Christine O’Donnell