Icky: In a slideshow on its Web site, the Obama campaign is now promoting government benefits for “Julia” from the cradle to the grave. (
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The political world was transfixed yesterday by the Obama campaign’s release of a Web slide show called “The Life of Julia.” It takes about two minutes to get through, and its purpose is to wow American women with all the glorious government goodies they can and should claim throughout their lives — just so long as Mitt Romney doesn’t get elected and take them all away.
It takes us on a chronological journey through Julia’s life. We stop every few years and are instructed about the ways in which government programs are cosseting her, guiding her, giving her a leg up, keeping her safe from harm and even graciously allowing her “not to worry about her health” so she can focus on her career as a Web designer.
At the age of 31, Julia “decides to have a child” — apparently by immaculate conception, since there is neither a mate nor artificial-insemination facility in view. In the next slide, when his mother is 37, little Zachary goes off to kindergarten.
For even this commonplace event, Julia will have President Obama to thank, since “the schools in their neighborhood have better facilities and great teachers because of President Obama’s investments in education.”
At 42, when Julia wants to start her own Web-design business, she doesn’t have to go it alone. Thankfully, the Small Business Administration is there with a loan for her.
Eventually, she reaches 65 and is presented with the ultimate goodie: Medicare. And with that, we draw a veil over the rest of Julia’s life (before the death panels convene to put her out on the ice floe, perhaps).
The slide show concludes with the words: “From cracking down on gender discrimination in health-care costs to fighting for equal pay, President Obama is standing up for women throughout their lives.”
“Julia” is a fascinating document — fascinating and instructive when it comes to its portrayal of the kind of life Obama and his people think American women should have.
The slide show basically says that women need government programs from cradle to grave if they want to have a productive life — to get an education, stay healthy, have children, see those children educated and find meaningful work themselves “throughout their lives.”
The message of “Julia” is a complete vindication of Mitt Romney’s charge that Obama is trying to create a “government-centered society.”
No wonder, then, that the tone of “Life of Julia” is so astonishingly . . . paternalistic.
Remember that it is addressed specifically to female voters — white female voters, if the line-drawn depiction of Julia is any guide. But the images suggest drawings in a board book for toddlers, while the words suggest the Obama campaign believes adult females are best addressed as one would speak to a first grader.
“Julia” is an emblem of the brave new world of political campaigning. It was clearly conceived as a means of spreading the Obama gospel on Facebook. If you watch it on the Obama 2012 site and click the “like” button, “Julia” will immediately appear on your Facebook page, where others can watch it and click “share” to have it appear on their Facebook pages.
The November election results will go a long way toward telling us what kind of country Americans want the United States to be — whether they want to continue down the road to a European social democracy.
The response to “Julia” over the next few weeks will offer some early hints. If it really does go viral, maybe grown Americans really do want to be treated like children.
If it doesn’t, that will suggest even Obama enthusiasts don’t appreciate the condescension toward the value and virtue of independent human endeavor that is at the root of Obamaism.