2012-05-07

Julia - Cradle to Grave

Ross Douthat takes a look at the Obama campaign's Julia ad.
What’s more, she seems to have no meaningful relationships apart from her bond with the Obama White House: no friends or siblings or extended family, no husband (“Julia decides to have a child,” is all the slide show says), a son who disappears once school starts and parents who only matter because Obamacare grants her the privilege of staying on their health care plan until she’s 26.
Its all about her. Kinda self-centered, right?

He goes on:
In addition to ignoring the taxes that will be required of its businesswoman heroine across her working life, “The Life of Julia” hails a program (Head Start) that may not work at all, touts education spending that hasn’t done much for high school test scores or cut college costs, and never mentions that on the Obama administration’s own budget trajectory, neither Medicare nor Social Security will be able to make good on its promises once today’s 20-something Julias retire.
Would the ad be as effective if Julia's name were José or Shaniqua? Doesn't the Obama campaign care about minorities?

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