By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
The College Republicans National Committee (CRNC) released a statement in which they bitterly criticized the “Pajama Boy” ad which portrays young people in what they say is an unfavorable light.
The group wrote in a written statement, “President Obama’s ability to inspire and mobilize younger generations is undisputed. Voters under 30 are the reason he sits in the Oval Office. And yet, for all of his political success among young adults, many of his youth-centric policy campaigns have displayed a remarkably tin ear to our concerns.”
The CRNC continued, “First came fictional storybook ad dubbed, “The Life of Julia.” The ad follows Julia from age 3 to age 67 and explains how the government is there to help her along the way. She moves from a Head Start-funded day care program, to a Race to the Top high school, to an Obamacare-funded control prescription, to a low-interest rate student loan, to a retirement subsidized by Medicare and Social Security.”
Author and columnist David Harsanyi said, “What we’re left with is a celebration of how a woman can live her entire life by leaning on government intervention, dependency and other people’s money rather than her own initiative and hard work. That is, I’d say, implicitly un-American. . .”
The CRNC wrote, “And it’s explicitly un-Millennial as well. Young adults are entrepreneurial, mercurial; they crave customization, and they are increasingly distrustful of the government. They want to start a business, not have Washington in their business.”
The College Republicans said, “We also place “being a good parent” and “having a successful marriage” at the top of our priority list, far above “having a high-paying career” and “having lots of free time” (which is still somehow portrayed as the defining goal of young adults). And yet The Life of Julia is curiously devoid of any interactions outside those she has with a government program. She has a child, but there is no mention of a husband, or family, or really any sort of meaningful community. But given young adults’ desire for connectedness, even if it’s increasingly done through social networking sites, one has to wonder about President Obama’s understanding of our generation.”
The CRNC wrote, “The disconnect between the White House’s perception of young people, and the underlying value of young adults, became more evidence with the release of “Pajama Boy.” The ad, meant to spur young adults to have a conversation about signing up for Obamacare while home for the holidays, features a grown man in plaid pajamas cradling a mug of hot chocolate while sitting on the family’s leather couch.” “Is this really how the Obama Administration views young adults? As spoiled, middle-class, hipsters who don trendy Warby Parker glasses and revel in the irony of a onesie?”
The group wrote, “If you’re going for a caricature, then fine, it fits the bill. But so many young adults want to be more than just a stock character in a Lena Dunham sitcom.”
Generation Opportunity’s David Pasch noted, “The key to reaching young people is authenticity. We can see through bullshit and don’t like to be used as political props.”
Charles Cooke noted in National Review, the boy “isn’t a clever marketing idea. It is the id of the Obama machine made public.”
House District 46 candidate, Justin Barkley (R) wrote in the College Republican Federation of Alabama Newsletter, “ObamaCare is just the latest example of the paternalistic philosophy of the Democratic Party, a philosophy that says government knows better than the individual, and that individuals are not to be trusted to choose what is in their own best interests.”
The CRNC charged, “Obama’s vision for young adults is not one of individualistic self-reliance, but is of a developmentally stunted generation who make perfect candidates for government’s largesse.”
McKay Coppins wrote for Buzzfeed, “Is there any battle in contemporary politics being waged with more indignity and less prowess than the tug-of-war for twentysomethings over Obamacare?”
The College Republicans wrote in their statement that the Obama administration has a, “Fundamental misunderstanding of who we are and what we want. Young adults don’t want welfare. We want jobs. We don’t want to be stuck in our parents’ basement. We want our own house and our own family. And we don’t want it given to us. We want to shape our world on our own terms. You’d think a president who successfully got millions of young people to vote would at least understand that much.”
Recent polling suggests that Obamacare is increasingly unpopular with young people. Recent polling shows that even the uninsured (the group the measure was designed to ‘help’) oppose Obamacare by 58% and 71% of the uninsured oppose the individual mandate that they must purchase health insurance or be punished by their own government. A recent CNN poll showed 62% of the persons polled oppose the new healthcare law while only 35% support the controversial legislation.
