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Maybe it鈥檚 a maternal thing. But we couldn鈥檛 help but sympathize somewhat when we heard Ann Romney鈥檚 latest attempt to defend her husband from his Republican critics, who have been vacillating between morose and merciless.

Yes, we know, Mitt isn鈥檛 Ann鈥檚 son. But there was something about the way she snapped 鈥淪top it鈥� that called to mind nothing so much as a mom who鈥檚 鈥渉ad it up to here鈥� with the snide comments being lobbed from the backseat.

In an interview with Radio Iowa Thursday, Mrs. Romney tried to lay down the law:

鈥淪top it. This is hard. You want to try it? Get in the ring. This is hard and, you know, it鈥檚 an important thing that we鈥檙e doing right now, and it鈥檚 an important election, and it is time for all Americans to realize how significant this election is and how lucky we are to have someone with Mitt鈥檚 qualifications and experience and know-how to be able to have the opportunity to run this country.鈥�

The trouble with these comments, of course, is that they probably will give more fodder to critics who see Ann Romney as a clueless elitist. Telling Americans they just need to realize how 鈥渓ucky鈥� they are that someone as talented as her husband is willing to be their leader sounds sort of like when she told reporters that she and her husband had released 鈥渁ll you people need to know鈥� when it came to their taxes. It鈥檚 got more than a whiff of noblesse oblige.

Still, as we said, it鈥檚 hard not to sympathize. For one thing, nearly everyone agrees that presidential campaigns are probably hardest on the spouses. Their schedule is nearly as brutal, but they aren鈥檛 necessarily as practiced in keeping on message. (Remember an irritated Teresa Heinz Kerry, Sen. John Kerry's wife, telling a reporter to 鈥渟hove it?鈥�)

Understandably, they also tend to take all the criticism more personally 鈥� particularly when it comes from would-be allies.

During the GOP primary campaign, Anita Perry, wife of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, got teary at an event with voters and confessed that it had been 鈥渁 rough month,鈥� after her husband had come under fire for some poor debate performances (and this was聽before聽the infamous 鈥渙ops鈥� moment). "We are being brutalized by our opponents, and our own party," she said.

What鈥檚 most interesting about Mrs. Romney鈥檚 comments is that 鈥� besides revealing just how difficult the past few weeks have been for the Romney family 鈥� she also may have inadvertently hit on the biggest factor behind her husband鈥檚 current predicament: He was never the party鈥檚 first choice, but no one else wanted to 鈥済et in the ring.鈥�

It鈥檚 no secret that Mitt Romney has never been beloved by conservatives. The GOP nominated him because, to be blunt, he was all they had 鈥� the best (by far) of a weak field. And for all the sniping now about how 鈥渋f Republicans can鈥檛 win against an incumbent as weak as President Obama, with an economy as weak as this鈥� 鈥� well, it鈥檚 worth remembering that a whole line of potential A-list candidates, from Jeb Bush to Chris Christie to Marco Rubio, took a look at these same conditions and decided to pass.

So, Republicans can bemoan Romney鈥檚 鈥渋ncompetent鈥� campaign and his 鈥渢in-eared鈥� candidacy. And we鈥檙e not saying they鈥檙e wrong. But on some level, his wife is also right: Running for president is hard. And Romney was willing to take a shot, when other party leaders were not.