Politics: The Umbrage Wars

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Politics The Umbrage Wars The four kinds of campaign controversies, and which ones actually matter. By John Dickerson Posted Thursday, Apr 12, 2012, at 10:57 PM ET Wednesday was a big day for political umbrage taking. It started with a conference call hosted by Mitt Romney's campaign in which his advisers were unable to give an immediate answer to the candidate's position on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The Obama campaign issued a statement from Ms. Ledbetter saying she was "shocked and disappointed." (A couple of hours after the Romney campaign was struck mute, it issued a release saying President Romney wouldn't seek to repeal the law.) Then, just before bedtime, Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen took umbrage at the fact that Ann Romney was being used by her husband as an ambassador to middle class women, saying that Ann Romney had "never worked a day in her life." This caused @AnnDRomney to take umbrage on Twitter. "I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work," she said, in her first post ever. Then, Obama's top aides Jim Messina and David Axelrod took to Twitter to take umbrage at Rosen's remarks. All of that seemed like an umbrage too far but it was just a prelude to another round of public fainting and chest-clutching Thursday.  Umbrage taking is not new in politics. Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton and Preston Brooks caned Charles Sumner on the floor of the Senate. When a critic gave Harry Truman's daughter a bad review, he threatened to punch him in the nose. Last campaign, umbrage became a standard ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Kaplan: Why Israel May Feel Pressure To Attack Iran Before the U.S. Presidential Elections "War on Women": The Life and Death of a Political Talking Point How America Fell in Love, Then Out of Love, Then In Love All Over Again With Asian Fusion	Advertisement
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