"Family values" is not a dirty word; we should reclaim it for what it really is.

A friend of mine who, alone with a same-sex partner, adopted five at-risk kids.  He loves to talk about his family values.  And I respect them.

Michelle didn't say anything even slightly negative about Clinton.  

I didn't hear these comments but it certainly brings back memories. It was Dan Quayle's only 'send the stupid kid out to say something and see how it resounds before BushI said it and made himself look foolish' that apparently resounded. 'Family Values' was the only one that stuck and they attacked single mothers and anyone who wasn't a 'traditional' family as wrong and immoral and God forbid a woman should have a baby out of wedlock without being flogged and have her baby taken away.

I swear the more I hear of these two the more they sound like BushII....stay out of my house!! Stay out of my family!! Keep your moral values to yourself I think mine are better than yours and always have been. I don't see you MO as a role model for anything and if you and BO want to play role model then go play somewhere else. We've had over 7 years of the same identical rantings in the Bush WH that you are offering in Iowa. Role models for family values...what the h***? Is this not condescending too?

Sorry I'm ranting but MO take your particular kind of family values and role models and shove them. Did Barack's mother not have family values because she had a baby with a married man out of wedlock and then married and divorced another man? Seems to me that she did a lot more with her life than you have Michelle- have a little mother in law problem? She's dead-probably hard to compete with a dead woman.

and I didn't think what she said was a big deal at all.

It's absolutely the right thing to say and she needs to say it every time she opens her mouth. Democrats need to own family values this time around.

You have to really try hard to see a "swipe" in her comment on Colbert tonight. Does every time Senator Clinton attribute positive qualities to herself mean she's taking a swipe at anyone else? Is Michelle Obama not allowed to talk about herself in positive terms?

In case you haven't been listening to stump speeches, Senator Obama and his wife have been pretty consistant about addressing the need to strengthen families. Teen pregnancy, better early education for children, STD's and HIV, health care - all of these are issues of importance to families.  "Values" do need to be addressed - not just by the religious right.  

I didn't see this as a swipe against Senator Clinton , who also makes the same arguements.  I think she and Senator Obama are very much in accord in this respect.  

Why should Repubs have a lock on this?  Family values does NOT mean being anti-choice.  For me - a woman's right to choose is an essential family value.  

We want a President that can learn quickly.

McCain certainly doesn't have a clue. His excuse is that he is too old.

Obama is outmaneurvering Hillary, and his ability to do so is improving weekly.

That makes him the best candidate. If he is smart enough to rip Hillary, a consummate insider, to shreds then he is smart enough to get something done as President.

I swear some of you Hillary supporters are the equivalent of Portuguese soccer players.

Michelle Obama can't say "family values" without someone taking a flagrant dive to draw a red card.

Michelle Obama will make sure that Obama will lose the general election if he's the nominee. Both of them have the condescending sanctimony that voters strongly dislike.

Wow! Now Democrats can't say they are a family values candidate?  I hope she says that over and over from now till the election. It says a lot that you immediately see that as a swipe at Clinton. In you mind Clinton is a far cry from a family values candidate, and you assume most viewers will see it that way also.

It was actually a compliment to Clinton supporters.

Colbert asked her why, if she's a successful, independant woman, she's not supporting Clinton instead of Obama.

She went on to explain that there are plenty of Clinton's core demographic... who view family values as important as well, that support Obama.

I think it's patently hilarious that those that consider themselves "Democrats" and "feminists" supporting trashing a woman based on her husband cheating on her. I certainly don't understand how anyone could NOT slam someone for saying "If she can't run her house, She can't run the White House", no matter what party they are a part of.

Michelle Obama basically said, "Well, if your husband cheats on you, you can't be President, HILLARY". Don't try to tell me differently because there's no way she could be referring to anything else. Anyone who tries to explain away her comments is pretty putrid to me, especally since the Democratic Party has made a livelihood of standing up for women, among others. It's shameful that we have someone like her attempting to represent Democrats on a national level.

I thought it was a fair comment considering how Hillary uses Rove talking pts to go after Obama with.  Michelle did not refer to the Clintons at all.  It could have been anyone she is referring to.  The dems are going to have talk about family values because the repugs will.

in the values of a family that listens to Rev. Wright for 20+ years.

Unbelievable.

For Michelle to insinuate that Hillary would make a poor president because her husband cheated on her.  

Again, no mystery about what she ways saying:

"So our view was that, if you can't run your own house, you certainly can't run the White House."

What do we know of Barack's fidelity?  I suppose it's a relevant question now that Michelle has raised the comparison.  

Are the Obama's only allowed to talk about things on which they and the Clintons are 100% identical?  I think family values and personal responsibility have been an important, albeit overlooked, aspect of Obama's campaign.  

If Michelle's comments about her belief in family values make the Clintons look bad in contrast, it's because the Clintons have been failures in this area.  

But she wasn't talking about the Clintons.  She was talking about the Obamas and people who support them.  

I fell asleep and missed her on The Colbert Report.  She's a classy lady and as always after hearing her speak, I applauded with the audience.  She'll make a great First Lady.

We Must Denounce Family Values!

When you sit back and think about this diary it is rather silly.

A. 'Family Values' is not a phrased owned by those who attacked Bill Clinton.

B. To say one thinks Family Values are important in only an attack on the Clintons if you find their values lackluster.

C. Do we really want to be the non-Family Values party?

FAMILY VALUESGATE!