A right-leaning group called Generation Opportunity has released what is probably the year’s most bananas set of political ads, aimed at turning young people against signing up for Obamacare. (Hat tip to Yahoo! News.) Here’s the version for the ladies:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7cRsfW0Jv8]
And the one for the fellas:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsN75nt1aUU]
1. Holy. Crap.
2. OK, in seriousness: what exactly is the substantive message of these ads? “Having health insurance sucks”? “Won’t someone save me from getting necessary medical screenings, because I might get violated by a patriotic relative of Chucky”? There are (whether you believe them persuasive or not) conservative arguments that the health care act will not work financially, or that it will worsen people’s existing coverage setups, or that it doesn’t make economic sense for the young and healthy. These ads aren’t arguing that: the apparent takeaway—besides several nights’ of puppet nightmares—is that you should actually prefer no insurance coverage or doctor visits at all.
[Update: According to TIME Nation writer Kate Pickert, that is sort of the point–for those wanting Obamacare to fail, their best hope at this point is that the young and healthy decided not to sign up in the exchanges, leaving them to the old, unhealthy, and expensive.]
3. I know conservatives hate Big Government, but wasn’t there a period in our national discourse when they preferred not to demonize beloved symbols of Americana? What’s the sequel: the Statue of Liberty asking some guy to turn his head and cough?