War on Fathers

It seems as though Ann and Mitt Romney, in their speeches last week, decided to shift the Republican attack on women to an attack on fathers.  It was weird, I thought.  Ruth Marcus, writing in The Washington Post, dissects Mrs. Romney's patronizing remarks.  Marcus rightly calls Mrs. Romney's speech "objectifying and demeaning" in citing quotes like these: "It's the moms who always have to work a little harder, to make everything right.  It's the moms of this nation--single, married, widowed--who really hold this country together."

Mitt picked up on the theme Thursday night when he said, "I knew that [Ann's] job as a mom was harder than mine.  And I knew without question that her job as a mom was more important than mine."  Really?

I guess these comments are meant to flatter mothers, but they end up insulting everyone, especially fathers.  It's almost as if the Romneys are suggesting that fathers are superfluous in children's lives, which couldn't be farther from the truth.  We may argue at home, as I'm sure many of us do, about who works harder raising children in a family; but to suggest that one parent is more important than another discounts the magic that works in any family to launch children into the world.

Mitt Romney is disturbingly out of touch.  Or is he always acting a part?  If so, he doesn't do a very good job.