Republicans to air anti-Obamacare ads during 'Daily Show'
'Daily Show' host Jon Stewart has been critical of the Obamacare rollout. Now the Republican National Committee will run a spoof of a famous Apple ad during the show.
Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus, seen here at the National Press Club in Washington earlier this year, said a new anti-Obamacare ad points out the program's 'absurdity.'
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP/File
The Republican National Committee is targeting young Americans – specifically, young Americans in the Washington area who watch "The Daily Show" – in its latest assault on the Affordable Care Act.
The RNC is running an anti-Obamacare ad Tuesday night during "The Daily Show" in the D.C. market, hoping to resonate with the same healthy young people that the Obama administration needs to buy into the new system in order to offset the costs of insuring older and comparatively less healthy Americans.
The ad that the RNC is running during "The Daily Show" is one of four that the committee has produced riffing on the popular Apple "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" commercials, in which an actor playing a Mac contrasts himself with his PC friend. In the RNC's commercials, two actors portray "Obamacare" and the "Private Sector."
"I'm just down for a little maintenance," says "Obamacare," as the overweight, disheveled actor playing him waves from the floor.
"Down for maintenance?" the trim, preppy "Private Sector" asks in response. "I don't understand. I work all the time. Twenty-four seven. Customers depend on it."
"Hey, look, before you know it, we'll be just like the DMV," responds Obamacare.
“The disastrous rollout of healthcare.gov is just the latest evidence that the massive legislation was poorly conceived and terribly crafted,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus in a statement announcing the ad campaign. "These videos help to convey the absurdity of Obamacare and the administration’s careless behavior.”
The RNC and "The Daily Show" may not be your typical pairing – but "The Daily Show" offers the RNC the young demographic it wants (and, in the D.C. market, a politically engaged market of viewers who likely have health insurance through their jobs). In addition, host Jon Stewart has come down hard on the botched Obamacare rollout in recent weeks, at one point comparing Obama to "Gil," the perpetually blundering businessman from "The Simpsons," and asking how the Democrats will "spin this turd."