Last week, Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen caused a bit of a kerfluffle with some comments she made about Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.  By way of dissecting Mr. Romney’s statement that he relies on his wife to keep him apprised of “women’s issues,” Rosen said that Ann Romney doesn’t understand the pressures and challenges other women face because she had, in Rosen’s words, “never worked a day in her life.”

Reaction was as swift as it was predictable.  Conservatives, eager to pounce on a liberal, immediately went after Rosen for attacking stay-at-home mothers, and in a rather disingenuous move, demanded that President Obama apologize for and repudiate her remarks, as though all liberals in the public eye somehow speak for his administration.

Have you noticed how whenever a liberal says something perceived as insulting to conservatives, Obama has to apologize for it, but when Rush Limbaugh goes on a three-day rampage of actual insults against a college student, conservatives don’t feel the need to do the same?

But I digress.  Lost in the shuffle over Rosen’s comments, and the predictable backlash that followed, was one salient fact: what, if anything, did she get wrong?

The fact is, Ann Romney is the wife of a very wealthy man.  She has, for as long as she’s been married to Mitt, enjoyed the power and privilege that come with wealth and status.  

No, Ann Romney has never had to work a day in her life (at least since marrying Mitt).  Unlike the wives of the men Mitt’s company, Bain Capital, laid off, she’s never had to face the hard choice between staying at home and going back into the work force.  That’s not all, though – here’s a brief list of other things Ann Romney will never need to do and will never understand.

She will never have to struggle with paying the bills and feeding her family when all you make is $500 per week.

Her sons will never have to choose between going to college and joining the military.  Like her husband, none has chosen to serve his country in that capacity.  Her husband famously said during the last campaign, when asked about his sons’ lack of military service, that they were serving their country by helping him on his campaign.  I’m sure we all appreciated their “sacrifice.”

She will never understand the pain of sending one of her sons off to fight in a war half a world away and wonder if they will come home alive.

She will never understand the middle class mother’s dilemma of going back to work to bring in extra money for the family, only to find it all goes to pay for day care.

Lest I be falsely accused of not respecting motherhood, let me join the chorus of voices and say that there are few jobs harder than being a mother.  Heck, being a parent is hard work.  But let’s be honest here; it’s a lot easier when your spouse has an annual income that requires scientific notation to calculate.

The Romneys seem like nice people.  I’m sure Ann was a fantastic mother.  She raised five sons and coped with a chronic disease with grace and dignity.  But no matter how hard they try, neither of them will ever connect with the middle class.