Ann Romney's Charm Offensive Continues Following Strong RNC Speech
TAMPA, Fla. (CBSNewYork) -- Mitt Romney's wife, Ann, made a splash Tuesday night, appealing to women, and making the case her husband won't fail as president.
On Wednesday, she continued her charm offensive to boost her husband's image. Her high-profile events put her in a sense in a toe-to-toe competition with first lady Michelle Obama, CBS 2's Marcia Kramer reported.
"From her I learned not only to cook but to shop for heels, to decorate a home, how to be brave in the face of trials and adversaries," Mary Romney said.
It was the morning after Ann Romney's convention speech where she tried to humanize her husband, but Team Romney seemed just as intent on selling Ann to the American public as it was on selling Mitt. She did a woman's breakfast with her daughters-in-law, cut a ribbon at a children's hospital and talked directly to the women of America.
"They say that women aren't as good at math. Guess what? We know how to balance a checkbook and we're the ones who know how to budget a family household," Ann Romney said.
It was the selling of a wife and mother as much as the selling of a husband and presidential nominee. Ann Romney shared secrets of her conversations with her husband about the daunting task of unseating a sitting president.
"He gave me all the arguments, how hard it would be to win the primary, how hard it would be to beat a sitting president, blah blah blah and I just said 'talk to the hand,'" Ann Romney said.
At the breakfast, Mitt Romney offered a video tribute to his wife.
Do you think if Ann were the nominee the press would write stories about how my job is to humanize Ann? I don't think so," Mitt Romney said on the video.
But as the wife of the nominee there are certain inescapable comparisons to first lady Michele Obama. It's the unspoken mano-a-mano war of the roses. Kramer asked former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani about it, and about Ann Romney's speech.
"I don't think it's fair to compare first ladies. It's such a difficult role because there's no definition for it. I have great admiration for Michelle Obama. She's a very fine woman. In Mrs. Romney's case, I was amazed at how well she did," Giuliani said.
"She did a great job .I just absolutely loved her. She looked beautiful. She spoke very eloquently and from the heart," New Yorker Rita DiMartino said.
"I thought she was extremely effective. I spoke to my wife who was at home watching it on television. She though she communicated directly to the women of America. She looked right into the screen, talked about Mitt Romney … and it was very effective," Rep. Peter King added.
So the big question for Team Romney is whether the women of America will relate to Ann Romney and whether it translates into votes.
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