President Obama: Women should make their own health care decisions. Mitt Romney: No comment.

President Obama at an early morning rally in Tampa, Florida, pledging to defend the right of women to make their own health care decisions, whether the issue is abortion, birth control, or anything else:

Ever since Richard Mourdock said pregnancies resulting from rape are "something God intended," the president and his campaign have been relentless in arguing that Mourdock's comments illustrate the importance of keeping politicians'especially male ones'from legislating control over women's bodies. That's exactly the case the president made last night on The Tonight Show and as you can see in the clip above, it's what he's saying on the campaign trail. His campaign team is sending out statements, releasing web videos, and even airing new television ads on the topic.

But this issue isn't just about Richard Mourdock and Democrats didn't discover it 36 hours ago. The reason why we're seeing such energy on it is that Democrats are genuinely passionate about defending reproductive freedom and they are thrilled to be talking about an issue where their position is shared by most Americans.

But for Republicans, it's a completely different story. Mitt Romney has entered a virtual cocoon of silence. Here's his campaign yesterday:

While a Romney campaign aide has said he disagreed with Mourdock's remark, the Republican presidential nominee is standing by Mourdock and hasn't asked the Indiana state treasurer to take down a TV ad Romney filmed for him earlier this week.

Beyond the statement from an aide, the Republican nominee and his aides have worked to avoid the subject. Romney did not speak to reporters or address Mourdock's remarks during two public appearances Wednesday. His aides sometimes speak to reporters traveling on Romney's campaign plane but did not appear Wednesday, and were scarce at Romney's rallies. They ignored repeated emailed questions about Mourdock.

And according to Reuters reporter Sam Youngman, their silence is continuing today:
At breakfast stop, me, @sppeoples and @llerer asked Romney repeatedly about Mourdock. He did not respond.
' @samyoungman via Mobile Web The fact that Mitt Romney doesn't want to say anything about this tells you just how bad a spot he's in, because if there's one thing we know about Mitt Romney, it's that if he can find a way of speaking from both sides of his mouth on a topic, then that's exactly what he'll do.

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7:37 AM PT: Another reporter says Romney ignored questions about the issue:

At breakfast stop in Ohio, Romney ignores questions from poolers on Mourdock
— @EmilyABC via Echofon