Last week a democratic strategist, while(I surmise or at least hope) trying to downplay a comment by Mitt Romney about his wife’s input to his economics policy, created a fire storm.

What I think (or truly hope) was that she was employing an us vs them tactic to take the steam out of Mitt Romney’s sails and to get more traction on the “he’s a rich guy and doesn’t understand us.” I hope this because, as a woman, I am thankful to our mothers and grandmothers who helped us to reach a point where we have respect and credibly in the workplace or in the home. It’s a choice. One that we, as women, should respect. It wasn’t always an option as easy as it is today.

We can take this one in many directions. Here’s one of mine…

Many women who choose to not bring home a paycheck are smart, educated, involved and active. They have chosen to raise their family (and in many cases to help others to raise theirs), to volunteer in our schools, to volunteer for non-profits and it was a choice. A choice that may be harder for some than for others, for whatever reason. A choice that some may not have. Life isn’t fair, never was, never will be. Deal.

While it’s easy to spout words of hate, especially in a country with two-party politics.  I am not intimately aware of Anne Romney’s background, and frankly I don’t care. Yes, it was easier financially for her to stay home with her family than for many. Yes, she may not have the inside track on the ins/outs of corporate finance, few do. The point is, why are we still fighting this battle of stay-at-home moms vs working-outside-the-home moms?

This is a situation that I reach out to James Carville’s book Stickin. At one point in the book, he talks about how people (our elected representation in Washington) on opposite sides of the proverbial aisle won’t share a meal or chat. Simple reason… they’ll find a common ground. They’ll find something they can agree on and create a relationship around. Hard to hate someone you share ground with, so the easy answer is to just build that wall. Rocked my world. Here I thought we were working towards a common good. Not so much.

Let’s move on.

We’ve come a long way baby. Keep it rolling. Respect each other, you don’t have to agree, just respect. And stop the garbage, the hate speak. It may get the sheep to follow, but enough…

For the record, I’ve worked full-time/part-time/no-time while raising my boys and consider my political tendencies along the independent mindset.