Mitt Romney says Joni Ernst 'didn't just sit at home needle-pointing'

While helping rally support for Iowa Senate candidate Joni Ernst (you know, the woman who "grew up castrating hogs"), the Des Moines Register reports that Mitt Romney said: "She didn't just sit at home needle-pointing, as you know, she was doing some work on the farm — squealing work on the farm."

We know what the squealing reference was about. And, of course, Romney said a lot of other stuff that won't make any headlines. But some in the press seized on the needle-pointing line, and it's worth asking why.

Perhaps it was just Romney's way of saying that Ernst is a hard worker. For example, if I were to say that I went to college — and didn't just take basket weaving classes — you'd know what I meant. But it's also likely that some will hear the needle-pointing line and suspect it's really about gender norms. It was a bit reminiscent of Hillary Clinton's famous line: "I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas."

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This isn't likely to cause Ernst any serious problems. But it is yet another example of Romney's penchant for saying awkward things.