As a candidate and president, Barack Obama talked often about the importance of fatherhood, marriage, and family. A speech he gave in Chicago a decade ago about violent crime included one observation few elected Democrats today would repeat publicly:
There's no more important ingredient for success, nothing that would be more important for us reducing violence, than strong, stable families--which means we should do more to promote marriage and encourage fatherhood.
As was often the case, the loudest criticism Obama received for elevating fathers came from his progressive supporters. The rest of the party took notice. Democrats removed all references to fatherhood from their 2016 and 2020 party platforms.
Progressives avoid public debate about marriage and fatherhood because they believe social outcomes are mainly driven by public policy and systemic forces, not individual decisions. READ MORE
