How government is replacing marriage for a core Democratic constituency
November 15, 2024
During President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign in 2012, a cartoon character named Julia was created to illustrate the life of an average American. Clocking in at just 14 panels, the “Life of Julia” followed a faceless white woman from the ages of 3 to 67. We see her go to preschool, graduate from college, dye her hair orange, get a job as a web designer, go back to her natural dark hair, have a child, start her own business, and then retire.
At every step of the way, the campaign was at pains to show how government programs made Julia’s life possible. At age 3, she enrolls in Head Start. At 18, she qualifies for a Pell Grant. At 31, she receives free prenatal care. At 42, she qualifies for a Small Business Administration loan. And at 67, she comfortably retires — because the evil Mitt Romney was prevented from cutting her Social Security benefits by 40%. (PolitiFact labeled this last panel false.)
