Obama campaign's "Julia" turns into Republican fodder

Life of Julia from the Obama campaign

(CBS News) When the Obama campaign unveiled its fictional character Julia, officials hoped she might become a household name to show how the president's vision for the United States would benefit millions of Americans, especially women.

Instead, she is getting attention from Republicans who hope to use her to symbolize what they see as Mr. Obama's failures: An overreaching government.

According to the Twitter analytic Topsy, #Julia has been mentioned more than 20,000 times in the past two days as Republicans have been gleefully attacking Julia with their own interpretation of what she represents.

In "The Life of Julia," the Obama campaign released a web slideshow that takes the viewer through the life stages of a fictional woman named Julia. At age three, a slide says Julia is enrolled in the government Head Start program, which says presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney would slash. Later in life, the web tool says Julia received cheaper student loans, a Pell Grant and a tax credit. She benefited from the health care law and in her older years, Julia received Medicare and Social Security.

To Republicans, she represents a society increasingly dependent on government handouts.

Blogger Michelle Malkin hit the Twittersphere attacking Julia and has been retweeted nearly 600 times as of mid-day Friday.

The Life of #julia: Entitlement, dependency, wlth redistribution. #thelifeofbrianterry: Public service, self-sufficiency, sacrifice.

-- Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) May 3, 2012

And conservative writer Carrie Lucas wrote in the National Review Online that the life of Julia is "insulting."

"This latest tactic in the administration's 'War on Women' campaign is frankly insulting in its implication that women all need constant government help to get from the cradle to the grave," Lucas wrote.

The Republican Party says "The Life of Julia" is just another "gimmick" of "hype and blame" by the Obama campaign, riffing on Mr. Obama's 2008 theme of "hope and change."

"What's more, hyping and blaming is an admission of failure. If the president had a successful record, he would point to his first term and just say "Let's have more of that!" Republican National Committee communications director Sean Spicer wrote in a memo Friday.

In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, James Taranto writes, "Obama is setting forward a vision contrary to the American tradition of self-sufficiency--a welfare state that runs from cradle to grave."

As the Labor Department's announcement Friday morning that the economy added just 115,000 new jobs in April, Republicans took to Twitter to say "Julia needs a job."

#Julia Needs A Job bit.ly/JY6t8p

-- RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 4, 2012

[mitty41]

A lot of the American people cannot see the tremendous damage this president has done to this country. Another 4 years and you will not recognize the country we used to live in. Little by little he has injected big government into our lives. If he wins, the facade will be dropped and full speed ahead to his distorted vision for this country.

[smartasss1]

yes spending for our healthcare and education is so much worst than spending a trillion dollars for democracy in iraq.

[wayneonly]

Yes, the Republicans would definitely be against any programs that would help the poor and middle class get ahead. After all, according to them, it is not the job of the government to help people get ahead nor is it the job of the government to provide better education or health care for the children of the majority of the American people. By Republican agenda it is the job of the government to create tax relief for the wealthiest 1% of Americans and to create legislation that will enable these same 1%ers to increase their wealth using taxpayer money. Tax the poor and middle class so they can give the money to their wealthy campaign contributors. When will the American people wake up? Oh, I forgot to mention that it is not only the Republicans that are aiding the wealthiest 1% to rape the poor and middle class, it is all of Congress. Until the American voter educates themselves to what is really happening in Congress the "average" American will have no representation in Congress.

There are three good books for voters to read to really understand how Congress (both Republicans and Democrats) has aligned themselves with big banks and big business at the expense of the poor and middle class Americans. They are: Winner Take All Politics: How Washington Made The Rich Richer And Turned It's Back on The Middle Class by Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson, Throw Them All Out by Peter Schweizer, and Greedy Bastards by Dylan Ratigan. These books are real eyeopeners.

Congress has set themselves up as the PERMANENT POLITICAL PARTY. They believe they are the "elite" class and are "special" and "above the law(s)" that govern the rest of us. And we (the voters) have enabled them to gain this status by voting them into office term after term. We have allowed them to cultivate relationships with big banks and big business that have allowed them to legislate for these same big banks and big businesses at the expense of the taxpayer. Congress no longer represents "the people". They represent big banks and big business and their own interests.

We (the voter) can take back OUR Congress. It will not happen overnight and it will require diligence and dedication by the voters. Every voter needs to resolve that they will vote out every incumbent Congressperson as they come up for reelection. NONE of them have shown any inclination to represent the middle class, but have walked "hand in hand" to support the interest of big banks and big business and to enrich themselves while doing the business of the big banks and big business. We (the voter) need to send the message that we will no longer accept those actions.

But we also need to send newly elected Congress people to Congress with OUR agenda instead of the empty campaign promises that most candidates campaign on. We have to send Congresspeople to Congress with a clear idea of what "we the people" expect of them. And we need to watch their record as they legislate once we have sent them on their "mission". Maybe we will even get a few who are worthy of reelection. And maybe the rest of the Congress will get the message and we can get big money out of Congress.

[LDAblo]

"If I had a daughter, she would look like Julia." -- Satan, via his blog, Satan's Blog: http://wp.me/p14HPl-1j9

[takacrat]

What about the Men?

[wfw3536]

Almost 50% of folks now get some sort of government help from one of the 3 big entitlement programs and a variety of others. Obama will not be happy until his big government controls everyones life.

[occupy_cbs]

germanguy1: "It's amazing how the the Republicans (the party of 'NO') can see only the negatives in anything that benefits the people. Such 'Hamiltonian' thinking by this party illustrates their belief that the common people are 'mindless' and need those of wealth and power to rule over them."



Obviously the republican obstructionist party's ideology, is to keep funneling more and more BORROWED MONEY to the oligarchic plutocracy through their endless class WARfare, at the expense of everyone else so they can finally have their kings and queens like willard and ann sitting on the throne of cultist royalty with the serfs taking care of their every need!

[occupy_cbs]

JJ_in_tulsa: "I paid for own education....i born poor, but I didn't need to grow up stupid.m A little cheaper education"



And with posts like that, we can all tell you must have been the smartest one on the short bus, and paid a couple of dollars for an online GED!

[occupy_cbs]

We already know that the romney/ryan budget would cut funding for education for even larger tax cuts for millionaires, and if middle class students needed money for higher education, the mittster 'thinks' they can just borrow it from their parents.

The oligarchic plutocracy strikes again against the middle class!

[hypnotoad72]

Totally not related to my previous posts, but it's a fun historical factoid: An old TV show, "Julia", was the first show about an independent black woman. I wonder if it's out on DVD... I saw an episode on (TV Land or Nickelodon) over a decade ago before I realized that one month of cable television cost more than buying three TV show seasons on DVD, with DVD allowing higher quality, no syndicated cut episodes (for most shows), AND allowed me to watch on my own schedule... and was a one-time cost.

[hypnotoad72]

Only a person - literally born yesterday - would buy that claptrap.

More facts:

Ryan:
http://www.alan.com/2011/04/21/house-republican-budget-plan-adds-6-trillion-to-debt/

Want to fix the economy? Read/watch these articles, in order:

http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/01/vicious-cycle-stagnant-wages

http://www.realitybase.org/journal/2009/3/10/the-american-dream-died-in-february-1973.html

http://www.popscreen.com/v/62Q3x/Romney-says-he%E2%80%99s-not-looking-to-put-money-in-peoples-pockets

And the biggest sham by the GOP?

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/government/irony-gop-call-blasting-obama-for-unemployment-hosted-in-philippines/11257

(the GOP shouldn't even bother anymore... then we'll see just how true Progressives think Obama is...)

[hypnotoad72]

(for the final paragraph in parentheses, that's because Obama would no longer have have to play "bipartisanship in good faith", "chess", or anything else. Well, "chess" depending on who the pawns are.)