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It's not quite, "It's the family, stupid." But it's close.
U.S. Senator Barack Obama's fiery Father's Day speech has put the contemporary American family front and centre in the presidential campaign agenda.
Referring to his own experience being raised largely without his father, Mr. Obama focused on the problem of absentee fathers in the black community. "They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it," he told the congregation of the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago.
Although Mr. Obama was advocating more personal responsibility, the speech also served as a platform for a number of proposed family policies: Help for single mothers. Prenatal care. Early learning. Maternity, paternity and sick leaves.
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Could it be that the presumptive Democratic candidate is making family issues ... sexy? Well, if not sexy, right up there with economics and foreign policy.
While the speech centred on the uncomfortable topic of a crisis of black fatherhood, many observers say that peering inside the once-private family unit is overdue for all Americans - and also relevant to Canadian society.
"He's breaking open these sacrosanct structures to see how what's inside them has in some ways resulted in the fractured, disconnected and disinterested aspects of society in general. The family is where we get our values," says Elizabeth Dauphinee, a York University political science professor who specializes in U.S. elections and ethics.
Making this link is a new tactic, one far removed from what Prof. Dauphinee calls the "old-school liberal view" that if you just pour money into a problem it will go away, she says.
And in this world view, topics such as maternity leave and child care are no longer merely matters of concern to women.
"He is putting this out in the public sphere and saying, it's not women's issues. ... These are issues that link into these larger questions about nation, community and social responsibility on the individual level," she says, adding that this approach may appeal to the white working-class women who support Senator Hillary Clinton.
Sunday's speech is also backed up by a laundry list of policy issues on Mr. Obama's website. Policies affecting multiple generations and socio-economic classes, such as family leaves, early childhood development and retirement security, are grouped under the umbrella of "family."
It's a progressive move, according to sociologist Donna Lero. With the exception of Quebec, Canada and the United States tend to segment these issues, which can lead to various interest groups scrapping over limited resources. While Canadians do enjoy more robust parental leaves and other services, they're often not seen as part of the whole social picture, says Prof. Lero, of the Centre for Families, Work and Well-being at the University of Guelph. "When you see all of these things across a life course, you see families as opposed to young children's claim of the pie versus seniors, for example."
While many observers question whether Mr. Obama's approach would work - and how the government's end of an improved social contract might be paid for - many agree that the discussion is now officially on.
Judy Sgro, Liberal MP for Toronto's York West and a contributor to the Liberal Women's Caucus's Pink Book, says she sees many of the same social problems Mr. Obama addressed in his speech in her riding. She called the speech "inspirational."
"He can say a lot of things people couldn't say without being accused of racism," she says. "There are some things that should get said when we have shootings and issues. But the wrong word can find you in the middle of a storm of controversy."
