"Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country." -- Margaret Thatcher
Ms. Thatcher knew her game well.
Women gave the American political theater one heck of a thrashing over the last year. We've even managed to get the presidential candidates down on bended knees begging for our votes.
You've got to hand it to the candidates -- they try hard.
Lately, it's Gov. Mitt Romney who's making the inroads.
After so much hand wringing over whether he can close the gender gap numbers between the North and South, seems he's keyed in on a very special kind of woman: married.
After his wife, Ann, took the brunt of some accusations of not "working a day in her life," we learned that she raised five boys, survived cancer and lives with multiple sclerosis, a chronic disease that attacks the central nervous system.
It helps that she's a smart cookie and "gets" her role in the campaign: humanize her husband as well as herself and connect the dots between the strained economy and women voters.
She also knows what her role isn't: an adviser.
Romney acknowledged her role on the campaign trail has included helping her husband stay relaxed and focused, which has earned her the name the “Mitt-stabilizer.”
Her campaign surrogacy's taken on a life of its own and the proof of success seems to be in the pudding.
Unlike her husband, Ann's a media natural. She's comfortable divulging personal information about herself and her family in a way that's endearing. On raising five boys: "There were times I wanted to tear my hair out."
While Romney surges with married women, President Obama seems to have a firm grasp on single women.
His campaign's fictional character "Julia" led Romney to say at a rally "If you're looking for free stuff you don't have to pay for, vote for the other guy."
The Republican's seized the moment to hold up "Julia" as an example of the president's failed administration and too much big government.
Famously, conservative blogger Michelle Malkin sent out a tweet heard round the world:
The Life of #julia: Entitlement, dependency, wlth redistribution. #thelifeofbrianterry: Public service, self-sufficiency, sacrifice.
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) May 3, 2012
He's appealing to Mrs. "Julia," managing crazy households, stressed budgets and trying to keep the gas tank full for the kiddie carpool.
Finally seems like Romney's owning the space he knows best: jobs, jobs, jobs.
Especially when he speaks, as he did last week in Des Moines, about his vision for the anti-Obama economy: one driven by a competitive private sector and cut government out of our lives.
"They make America less competitive. You do not owe Washington a bigger share of your paycheck."
