Shut Fox Down

Previous Page

Transcript by Newsy: http://www.youtube.com/user/NewsyPolitics?feature=guide (Image source: BarackObama.com) BY ZACH TOOMBS Can a fictional character help influence voters in this November's presidential election? President Barack Obama's re-election campaign unveiled one of their own last week — and the reaction has been mixed. BarackObama.com debuted "The Life of Julia" Thursday. The feature aims to show how the president's policies would help a woman through various stages of her life — from paying a lower student interest loan rate at age 25 to enrolling in Medicare at 65. Although the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll of women voters shows President Obama with a 14-point advantage over Mitt Romney, the backlash to the "Life of Julia" campaign has been harsh — focusing on what some see as the feature's promotion of government intervention. The "Morning Joe" crew on MSNBC had this to say. JOE SCARBROUGH: "This cuts against just the grain of the American character." DONNY DEUTSCH: "Nobody, even a progressive guy like myself, wants to see America portrayed that way." A columnist for the conservative site Human Events spelled out the case against the Julia campaign, calling it: "... a celebration of a how a woman can live her entire life by leaning on government intervention, dependency and other people's money rather than her own initiative or hard work ... When they're old enough, I hope my two daughters will find the notion that their success hinges on the president's views on college-loan interest rates preposterous." On Twitter, Politico reports conservatives hijacked the #Julia hashtag with a heavy dose of sarcasm, including this from columnist Jonah Goldberg: "Hey, where's the part where Obama fixes Julia's broken soul?" But, for all its criticism, the online feature has also drawn praise. A panel on Fox News says Julia's message is the right one for President Obama. "Here we have a woman who worked through college." "So, to call that person a slacker I think is highly inaccurate." "I think the Julia ad actually reminds voters that there are real and important differences between Obama and Mitt Romney." And, although a writer for The Atlantic doesn't doubt the Julia feature's power of persuasion, he asks why focus on a character who appears to be from a privileged upbringing? "... while the ad will arguably be effective ... perhaps we ought to instead concern ourselves with how a less advantaged person might fare. Meet Ahmed. At age three, as he begins Head Start in New York City, his father, an illegal immigrant from Yemen, is deported by President Obama. Under Mitt Romney, he'd fare the same." All the back and forth aside, The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza writes — the buzz surrounding "The Life of Julia" is good for Team Obama. "... talking about Julia means talking about women voters and women's issues, where Obama dominates. And by talking about a fictional woman named Julia, Republicans just drive more people to Obama's campaign website."