US election 2012: Mitt Romney's wife Ann thrown into centre of women debate The row began when Hilary Rosen, a strategist who has worked for a number of high-profile Democrats, criticised Mr Romney for using his wife, a stay-at-home mother of five sons, as a surrogate to connect with female voters. "You have Mitt Romney running around the country saying, well, my wife tells me what women really care about is economic issues," She said on CNN. While on the campaign trail, Mrs Romney often says that her husband would return from a day at work and tell her "your job is more important than mine." Anxious that Barack Obama's 19-point polling advantage with women could be jeopardised, two of the President's top campaign aides both called on Ms Rosen to apologise. David Axelrod, a senior adviser, said the comments were "inappropriate and offensive" while Mr Obama's campaign manager Jim Messina said criticism of Mr Romney's family "should be off limits." Ms Rosen stood by her comments, saying that while she respected stay-at-home parents, many Americans were being forced to both look after children and hold down jobs.