Who is Julia? She is the character at the center of "The Life of Julia," an online slideshow created by
the Obama-Biden campaign that details the life of an American woman
from ages 3 to 67. The viewer is shown the many ways another
Democratic administration would benefit Julia -- and how bleak her
future would be if Republicans were in control.
A typical slide contains the following text:
Under President Obama: Julia decides to have a child.
Throughout her pregnancy, she benefits from maternal checkups,
prenatal care and free screenings under health-care reform.
Under Mitt Romney: Health-care reform would be
repealed.
One would think a glorified PowerPoint presentation would have
come and gone in the political world with little comment. But not
since Ross Perot's chart-heavy infomercials in the 1992 campaign
has a bit of office-place-inspired campaign material provoked such
a reaction.
Why? Because it takes something complicated and breaks it down
into simple, easy-to-digest nuggets. Because it gives a human name
(if not a face) and a human story to the typically dry topic. And
by relying on a fictional person, the Democrats don't have to worry
about any embarrassing skeletons -- she used student loans to buy
beer, she was a member of the Earth Liberation Front, she voted for
George W. Bush -- tumbling out of Julia's closet. And, of course,
by choosing a woman, it plays directly into the "War on Women"
storyline that the Democrats have run with over the past few months
as socially conservative Republicans, including a number of the
GOP-primary contenders, went after abortion laws and
reproductive-rights issues.
But it may have been Republicans who've given the most publicity
to Julia. As they see it, the slideshow perfectly encapsulates the
big-government overreach of the Obama administration. And,
according to a number of conservative women, the entire campaign is
patronizing, insulting and
anti-American as it insinuates that a modern woman can't live
her life -- and shouldn't even bother to try -- without Barack
Obama to hold her hand every step of the way.
Both sides, of course, will argue over research that serves as
the basis for the slides. Just as both sides will argue over the
proper role of government in individuals' lives, what our tax laws
should be like, the appropriate approach to health-care legislation
and more. And both sides can also claim that one is hysterically
overhyping the adverse effects of the other.
Here, for an example, is Julia's Circle of Life, created by conservative blogger
"Iowahawk." It not only cuttingly rewrites the pro-Obama
portion of the slides, but hilariously offers darker and darker
prognostications for poor Julia should the Republicans win out.
