Are 'Family Values' Outdated? - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com Ever since Vice President Dan Quayle's 1992 Murphy Brown speech, family and "family values" have had a prominent role in Republican campaigning. This election year it was a theme for Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney also often refer to family values - elevating the ideal of heterosexual, monogamous, married couples who have children in a nuclear family. But this model is not the reality for a growing number of Americans. Has the Republican ideal of family become outdated, or is it still a worthy goal for public policy? Kevin Noble Maillard, a law professor at Syracuse University, organized this discussion.