Ann Romney, Mitt’s not-so-secret weapon, lauded on birthday as devoted wife, mom

WASHINGTON – She’s warm, personable and engaging in ways that her husband is not, and now Ann Romney is being held up as a heroine to stay-at-home mothers by Republicans desperate to close the sizeable gender gap among those supporting U.S. President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.

Ann Romney’s lionization was continuing unabated on Monday as she celebrated her 63rd birthday, a milestone marked by the Romney campaign with a reverential video praising her as a devoted wife and mother.

“She’s a remarkable woman, and she’s gone through some tough times,” Mitt Romney says in the video, a collage of Romney family photographs combined with loving anecdotes from her husband.

“She had (a) diagnosis of MS. She’s had breast cancer,” he says. “My feelings and passion for Ann haven’t changed in the slightest over the years other than they’ve become stronger.”

The video seemingly had two aims: to humanize Romney, a wealthy politician dogged by perceptions he’s out of touch with average Americans, and to capitalize on the recent political firestorm that erupted when a relatively obscure Democratic strategist said last week that Ann Romney hadn’t “worked a day in her life.”

The birthday video begs to differ, as does a recent Facebook post by the fourth of five Romney boys, Ben Romney.

“Growing up, we never had a nanny or a ‘mommy’s helper.’ Never went to daycare,” he wrote.

“I was just one out of five, but always felt like I was the most important thing in her life. For my mom to raise us five boys, the way she did, was, in my mind, the most demanding — and hopefully rewarding — work she could have done.”

The Romneys, married for 43 years, spent part of Ann Romney’s birthday being interviewed at Boston’s famed Fenway Park by ABC’s Diane Sawyer. The chat was to air later Monday.

Romney was heard to remark on Sunday that she’d had an “early birthday present” — Democratic consultant Hilary Rosen’s ill-expressed remark last week apparently meant to illustrate that her life as the stay-at-home wife of a millionaire wasn’t relevant to many American women.

The remark was pounced upon by Republican strategists and conservative pundits eager to argue that Democrats, not Republicans, are waging a “war on women.”

“It was my early birthday present for someone to be critical of me as a mother,” Romney said at a fundraising event, according to NBC News and The Wall Street Journal. “That was a really defining moment, and I loved it.”

Romney was born in Michigan and met her future husband when she was a sophomore in high school. The relationship between the two young Mormons survived a lengthy separation when Mitt Romney did mission work in France, and they married upon his return when she was just 20 years old.

Throughout both of Mitt Romney’s bids for the Republican nomination, Ann Romney has constantly been by his side, often effortlessly warming up the crowd at various events before her husband takes the stage.

She’s generally unruffled by any jokes at her expense, famously laughing off Robert De Niro’s recent question: “Is America ready for a white first lady?”

De Niro was pilloried by the right for the remark at an Obama fundraiser with Michelle Obama in attendance.

“I laughed,” Romney said on CNN. “I took it for what it was: a joke.”

There’s little doubt Romney is an asset to her husband, says Myra Gutin, a communications professor at Rider University in New Jersey and a first lady historian. But there’s a limit to her appeal.

“She seems like a very nice woman. She’s raised five sons, so you certainly can’t say she wasn’t busy in the home but let’s face it — she had advantages that anyone in a normal financial situation was not going to have,” she said.

“Since Mitt Romney needs some way to make serious inroads in the female portion of the American population, Ann Romney is certainly not going to hurt, but the jury’s still out, as far as I’m concerned, about how most American women relate to her.”

Political spouses are important to Americans. Public opinions surveys have suggested for years that a spouse can elevate — or deflate — a politician’s reputation.

“When we look at the spouse, it’s to get a measure of character, and it often does help shape our perceptions of a candidate,” Gutin said. “But the spouse is not really going to cause, all on her own, a vote for or a vote against.”

And while Romney might be one of the most effective weapons in Mitt Romney’s arsenal, Gutin added, she’s facing a considerable foe in Michelle Obama.

“Michelle Obama has made huge strides in these past four years. She’s become a really strong first lady, a big supporter of her husband, and wildly popular. She’s going to be a major presence in the campaign.”

Indeed, Obama was on “The Colbert Report” last week to laud her husband, more than seven months before the presidential election.

“He has been a phenomenal president,” she told Colbert, the faux conservative talk show host. “He’s my man.”

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