The wife of GOP hopeful Mitt Romney on Thursday told Republicans to stop complaining about her husband’s flailing presidential campaign because they were “lucky” to have him as a presidential candidate.

During an interview with radio Iowa, Ann Romney was asked how she would respond to influential conservative critics like Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan and Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol.

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“Stop it!” she snapped. “You want to try it? Get in the ring.”

Ann Romney added: “This is hard and, you know, it’s an important thing that we’re doing right now and it’s 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’s qualifications and experience and know-how to be able to have the opportunity to run this country.”

“It’s nonsense. And the chattering class, they — you know, it’s hard, of course. They don’t — I don’t let it sink in. You hear it and then you just let it go right by. And you’re used to it. Honestly at this point, I’m not surprised by anything.”

Noonan wrote on Thursday that Romney’s campaign had become a “rolling calamity,” and Kristol recently called the candidate “stupid and arrogant” for dismissing 47 percent of voters, who he said thought they were “victims” and did not “take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

For his part, Mitt Romney doesn’t seem to be worried about the elections slipping away from him.

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On the way to a campaign event in West Palm Beach, Florida on Thursday, a reporter asked the former Massachusetts governor if he would have to step up his game.

“Ha, ha. We’re in the stretch, aren’t we?” Romney said as he changed the subject, pointing to the sky. “Look at those clouds. It’s beautiful. Look at those things.”

Listen to the audio below from Radio Iowa, broadcast Sept. 20, 2012.

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(h/t: Gawker)