Karl Rove-linked group Crossroads slams ‘cool' Obama
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President Barack Obama wears shades, sings Al Green, dances with Ellen DeGeneres, quaffs a Guinness, calls hip-hop megastar Kanye West a "jackass," and "slow jams the news" with Jimmy Fallon in the latest political ad from American Crossroads, the Karl Rove-linked "Super PAC." The ad uses the president's rock-star status against him, painting the "cool" president as having failed to help young voters.
"Four years ago America elected the biggest celebrity in the world. And America got one cool president," says the ad. But three years after Obama took office, more than half of recent college grads are jobless or underemployed, many are moving back in with their parents and student loans have skyrocketed.
"After 4 years of a celebrity president is your life any better?" asks the commercial.
The ad hits some well-worn Republican themes: It depicts Obama as superficial and blames him for the after-effects of the 2007-2008 global financial meltdown. The economy has been showing signs of a fragile recovery, and Obama boasts of consistent private sector job growth since he took office, but he and his top aides acknowledge that unemployment is still too high.
The spot also recalls a 2008 campaign video from Republican Senator John McCain that also tagged Obama as "the biggest celebrity in the world" -- and visually compared him to pop star Britney Spears.
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