The XX Factor: What women really think.

Family Values, Obama style

Meghan, that's an inspired allusion. You're totally right about the aesthetics of the Obama infomercial—and there was even the football practice scene. No wonder I, like you, was drawn in; I'm a huge Friday Night Lights fan. Did you notice, as I did, what a notable contrast in content there was, though? One central theme of the Obama ad was cohesive families doing their best for their kids. That's exactly what is so glaringly not in evidence on FNL, as Sara Mosle noted in her great piece about the show: Coach Taylor and his wife, Tami, with their high-achieving daughter, are the anomalies in Dillon, Texas. I've been struck lately by how often I've heard Obama sound the note of parental responsibility, a theme he's stuck with very consistently, and is—I think—great at pushing, not stuffily but urgently. The government is here to help in various ways, but you've got to turn off the TV set and help the kids with their homework: that's the message. (Only tonight, of course, he was hoping the tube was on.)