Washington News

Obamas, Others Rebut Rosen Comments On Ann Romney Comments by a Democratic strategist not directly linked to President Obama's campaign about the wife of the President's general election rival dominate campaign news, with the lead story on NBC, detailed reports on ABC and CBS, coverage in more than 100 local news reports, and stories in major newspapers across the country. Though Hilary Rosen apologized for her "poorly chosen" words about Ann Romney's choice to be a stay-at-home parent, the uproar put the Obama campaign on the defensive as Mitt Romney strives to make inroads with female voters.
NBC Nightly News reported, "On one level, it's one of those distractions that have been so numerous during this campaign season, except this is more than that." Rosen's words "blew up upon impact. She said, among other things, Ann Romney hasn't worked a day in her life. And right there, it rekindled a debate about American women working at home and outside the home. By the end of the day, the President, Vice President, and First Lady had weighed in. Rosen apologized, and an issue that wasn't an issue yesterday is a big one today." NBC added, "Romney was handed a political gift wrapped up in a bright pink bow when a prominent Democratic strategist and CNN commentator not working for the White House argued that Ann Romney cannot relate to average women."
ABC World News called it a "story igniting a fire storm in this country today about women and work." ABC added, "In an interview with ABC's Cedar Rapids, Iowa affiliate today, President Obama distanced himself from remarks by a prominent Democrat, seemingly belittling the work of stay-at-home moms -- specifically this stay at home mom, Ann Romney." President Obama: "There's no tougher job than being a mom. And when I think about what Michelle's had to do, when I think about my own mom, a single mother, raising me and my sister, that's work." Tapper said Rosen "has ties to the White House," showing her "attending a recent White House state dinner."
On its website, The Hill reports the President "said families of political candidates should be off limits." He told KCRG-TV Cedar Rapids, IA, "I don't have a lot of patience for commentary about the spouses of political candidates. My general view is those of us who are in the public life, we're fair game. Our families are civilians." Vice President Biden, on MSNBC's Ed Show, called Rosen's claim that Ann Romney "never worked a day in her life" an "outrageous assertion."
The CBS Evening News reported, "Democrats and Republicans tripped over one another to see who could denounce with the most force what most everyone agrees was a dumb comment from a single pundit." CBS added that Rosen "is not connected to the Obama campaign, but Republicans called out the campaign anyway. Romney's senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom said the remarks 'insult hardworking moms.' Democrats quickly distanced themselves from Rosen," and "even First Lady Michelle Obama weighed in, tweeting, 'Every mother works hard and every woman deserves to be respected.'"
On Fox News' Special Report, correspondent James Rosen called Hilary Rosen "one of the Democratic Party's most influential strategists," and said she "is no stranger to the Obama White House. Online records show she has visited there at least 30 times."
The AP reports Rosen apologized to Ann Romney "for her 'poorly chosen' words." In a statement, she said, "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. In response to Mitt Romney on the campaign trail referring to his wife as a better person to answer questions about women than he is, I was discussing his poor record on the plight of women's financial struggles."
The Washington Post says the "so-called war on women escalated," but "this time, however, Republicans were on the offensive. And after weeks of hammering Romney and the Republicans on gender-related issues, including contraception coverage and equal pay for women, President Obama's forces were thrown on defense."
Thiessen Says Obama, Not Romney, Has a "Woman Problem" In his Washington Post column, Mark Thiessen writes, "With polls showing Mitt Romney losing ground with women voters, many in Washington have been buzzing in recent days over Romney's 'woman problem.' They've got it backward: It is Barack Obama who has the bigger problem with women. When he took office in 2009, Obama's job approval rating with women had reached 70 percent; today it has slipped to 49 percent. ... The No. 1 issue women said was a priority for them is healthcare," and "women are even more opposed to" the Affordable Care Act "than men. Polls show 52 percent of women want the Supreme Court to overturn Obamacare, compared to 48 percent of men." Other top issues for women: "gas prices", "unemployment", and "the national debt."

Initial Jobless Claims Rose Last Week The CBS Evening News reported, "We got some unwelcome news today in the latest unemployment report. There was a rise in the number of people applying for unemployment benefits last week. 380,000 applied, which is up 13,000 from the week before, and that may mean that hiring is slowing."
The AP reports that a "key economic indicator...suggest[s] hiring remains weak. ... Initial claims for jobless benefits rose 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 380,000 for the week ended April 6, suggesting that a hiring slowdown in March may not quite have ended."
Bloomberg News noted that a "median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey called for 355,000 claims." According to Bloomberg, "The claims data, coming on the heels of last week's weaker- than-forecast payroll number, raise the possibility that the job gains that drove unemployment down to a three-year low last month will moderate."

Zimmerman Makes First Court Appearance The Trayvon Martin case continues to dominate the news, as network newscasts devoted more than 10 minutes of coverage to the first court appearance of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot Martin and who has been charged by a Florida prosecutor with second-degree murder. The case also continued to generate heavy print media coverage.
ABC World News reported, "Today, for the first time, we see and hear the man at the center of the national drama that has raged for 46 days. George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman accused of second degree murder in the death of Trayvon Martin. And today, he appeared in court for the first time. Zimmerman's attorney Mark O'Mara says his client is now safer in prison, where he's being held without bail."
The CBS Evening News reported, "A judge in Sanford, Florida, has ruled that there is enough evidence to hold George Zimmerman on charges that he murdered Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman appeared in court today, the first time we've seen his face or heard his voice since the night he called police to say that there was a suspicious person in his gated neighborhood. The case started a national debate over race, self-defense, and the fairness of the justice system."
The AP reports, "After weeks in hiding, George Zimmerman made his first courtroom appearance Thursday in the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, and prosecutors outlined their murder case in court papers, saying the neighborhood watch volunteer followed and confronted the black teenager after police dispatchers told him to back off." The AP continues, "The brief outline, contained in an affidavit filed in support of the second-degree murder charges, appeared to contradict Zimmerman's claim that Martin attacked him after he had turned away and was returning to his vehicle."

US, Allies To Consider Action After Failed North Korean Rocket Launch Early Friday in North Korea, there was a widely condemned launch of a long-range rocket, which Pyongyang has proclaimed was for orbiting a satellite. The reported 7:39 a.m. local launch time came during the middle of the evening newscasts in the US. Network broadcasts combined for over four minutes of North Korea coverage, with only NBC able to provide information of the launch. Cable television carried breaking news coverage, and multiple front pages of newspapers have articles on the launch. Generally, the launch was described as a failed attempt. Reports say that North Korea is silent on what took place, and the US is working with its six-party allies to consider UN action on Friday.
NBC Nightly News connected with Richard Engel via telephone in Pyongyang to provide details on reports "that North Korea has gone ahead with its controversial launch of that long range rocket." NBC's Engel said the US is concerned "this is not a satellite launch but that this is really a long range ballistic missile test, that this is a test of a rocket that can carry potentially even a nuclear weapon." He added that it was "bizarre" by even North Korean standards that the government "brought in over 100 reporters to witness the launch and then this morning decided to launch it in secret and told none of the reporters in this country about it."
The New York Times says North Korea defied the weeks of international warnings it had about the launch. But, in doing so, "the three-stage rocket appeared to break up and collapse moments after the launching. Officials from the United States, South Korea and Japan called the launching a failure, and the Japanese government said the rocket had disintegrated into several pieces while still in North Korean territory or over South Korean waters." An Administration official said the US "would follow through on its threat to suspend a recent agreement to supply food aid to North Korea. The official also said the failure had proved the effectiveness of sanctions already in place on North Korea, which had deprived the country of access needed for a successful program."
The Los Angeles Times cites the Japanese Defense Ministry as saying "the rocket flew for just over a minute." Meanwhile, the South Korean Defense Ministry "said the rocket traveled about 70 miles into the air, then split into four pieces and fell. Major parts fell into the North Korean side of the sea and debris fell into the Gunsan Sea off the southwest coast of South Korea. There were no immediate reports of debris falling onto land." The Wall Street Journal (4/13, Ramstad, Subscription Publication, 2.08M) puts the time frame into perspective. Citing US and South Korean officials, the Journal says the flight time was close to 90 seconds, and a successful launch would have lasted closer to ten minutes in order to reach orbit.
The Washington Post says "the failure of the Unha-3 rocket, following Pyongyang's two previous failed satellite launches, suggests that the North still hasn't perfected the delivery system for a intercontinental weapon." Regardless of the launch outcome, "North Korea also sparked immediate international outrage, and could face new measures from the United Nations." The US "will not seek additional sanctions against North Korea following the launch but will seek stepped-up enforcement of measures in place under existing UN resolutions, according to US officials."

Campaign News

Romney Has Two-Point National Lead Over Obama In Fox News Poll Fox News reported on its website that Mitt Romney "holds a slim edge over President Obama in a head-to-head matchup, a Fox News poll released Thursday shows." Romney is at 46% to the President's 44%. Fox News says that "as with every Romney-Obama matchup in the past six months, the race is so tight that it is within the poll's margin of sampling error. This, however, is only the second time the Fox News poll shows Romney on top."

Obama, Romney Tied At 45% Each In Rasmussen Daily Tracking Poll Rasmussen Reports ' daily tracking poll shows President Obama and Mitt Romney tied with 45% each. In another hypothetical matchup, the survey showed Ron Paul leading Obama 44%-43%. The survey of 1,500 likely voters was taken April 9-11.

Biden Says Romney "Out Of Touch," Defends Buffett Rule The AP reports Vice President Biden on Thursday called Mitt Romney "'out of touch' and 'out of step' with history and basic American values." The Vice President "also opened a new line of attack, introducing the 'Romney rule' and contrasting it with President Barack Obama's push for the so-called 'Buffett rule.'" Biden said Romney "not only wants to make Bush-era tax cuts permanent but also would give the wealthy additional yearly tax cuts worth more than the annual income of a typical middle-class family."
The Washington Times reports Biden, speaking in Exeter, New Hampshire, told the crowd "that paying higher taxes is 'patriotic.'" He added, "Gov. Romney and others argue that if we keep these windfalls and then shower even more windfalls on the very wealthiest, that's how America's economy will grow."
Biden also appeared on MSNBC's Ed Show, where, when asked about GOP claims that the Buffett Rule would depress hiring, he said, "Where in the heck have these guys been? That was the same argument, sitting on the Senate floor, listening to George Bush make, when he put that God-awful tax cut through for the super wealthy without paying for it; they were going to create jobs. What happened? Slower job growth than any time in 50 years once that passed."

Romney Reportedly Has $600 Million Fundraising Goal On its front page, the New York Times reports that Mitt Romney's campaign and its allies have set a "goal of raising up to $600 million, according to several people involved in the discussions." According to the Times, Romney's campaign is "planning dozens of fund-raisers through the end of June," and is "setting a goal of raising at least $1 million for most events featuring Mr. Romney personally. ... Aided by a new joint fund-raising agreement with" the RNC, "guests at major Romney events will be able to write checks as large as $75,000 to a 'Romney Victory' committee."

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!