海角大神

鈥淪on/daughter/granddaughter of a [blue-collar worker]鈥�: A candidate鈥檚 quick biographical shorthand to reassure audiences, 鈥淚鈥檓 not a snooty elitist; I鈥檓 just like you.鈥�

On-message candidates who rely too much on the phrase inevitably get roundly mocked in the political press. But judging by how often the candidates continue to deploy it, they don鈥檛 care.

At last week鈥檚 Democratic debate, Hillary Clinton that she鈥檚 鈥渢he granddaughter of a factory worker.鈥� In marked contrast to her 2008 campaign, she also has her father, Hugh Rodham, a small-business owner who 鈥渏ust believed that you had to work hard to make your way and do whatever you had to do to be successful and provided a good living for our family.鈥�

On the Republican side, Ohio Gov. John Kasich has to mention that his dad John Sr. was a postal worker. At the initial GOP debate in August, Governor Kasich answered a question about the economy by responding: 鈥淟et鈥檚 start off with my father being a mailman. I understand the concerns of all the folks across this country.鈥� The conservative National Review once on Kasich with, 鈥淗ave you heard that John Kasich鈥檚 dad was a mailman? If not, then you鈥檝e probably never been around Ohio鈥檚 Republican governor.鈥�

Other current and former candidates, of course, have made of their fathers鈥� humble ways of earning a living: Marco Rubio (bartender), Chris Christie (accountant), Bernie Sanders (paint salesman), Scott Walker (small-town church pastor), Rick Perry (farmer and tail gunner on a B-17 during World War II). Ted Cruz has gone a step further in often bringing his father (a dishwasher-turned-Baptist preacher) along with him on the campaign trail. One thing it helps them do is draw a distinction between themselves and Jeb Bush (son of an ex-president).

But no one has yet eclipsed Democrat John Edwards. In the 2008 race, the former US senator and wealthy trial lawyer from North Carolina was so in bringing up his patriarch鈥檚 place of employment 鈥� a mill 鈥� that the media repeatedly rolled its eyes. 鈥淓dwards, the aw-shucks country boy, may have unfortunate timing, but his mama didn鈥檛 raise no fool,鈥� Republican pundit Kathleen Parker wrote in a column sarcastically headlined 鈥淒id Edwards Mention His Dad Was a Millworker?鈥� 鈥淣either did his daddy, who, you may have heard, was a millworker.鈥�

Chuck McCutcheon writes his "Speaking Politics" blog exclusively for Politics Voices.