HARRISBURG -- Gov. Ed Rendell is struggling to understand why anybody would take offense to a remark he made Tuesday that newly appointed Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano would be good at her job because "she has no life."

"What I said is Janet is a person who works 24/7," Rendell said at an afternoon press conference. "She has no life -- neither do I."

The Pennsylvania governor made the comment about Napolitano, the former Gov. of Arizona, while he thought he was off-mic at the National Governor's Association meeting in Philadelphia.

Rendell said discussions he has had with the original secretary of homeland security, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, made it clear to him anyone who accepts the job will have to spend nearly every waking moment working. Napolitano, who Rendell called one of the country's best governors, is ready to make that commitment, he said.

Rendell himself said he also doesn't have a life, a quality he said allows him to be a better governor.

As an example, he said he watched a budget forum airing on PCN Tuesday night from 10:30 p.m. to 1 a.m.

"No person who has a life would do that," he said.

Rendell's remark drew a strong rebuke from CNN anchor Campbell Brown, who said it "perpetuated stereotypes" about mothers and single women.

"If a man had been Obama's choice for the job, would having a family or not having a family ever even have been an issue?" Brown said on air. “Is there an assumption that if you're family-free then you have no life? By some, yes."

Rendell said anybody who took offense to the remark that way was using "fractured logic," a term he took from the TV show "Rocky and Bullwinkle." They would have to "stretch" his comment to be offended, he said.

"But if anyone out there was offended, I would apologize," Rendell said.