As the arduous slog toward the Republican nomination begins in earnest next week with a nationally-televised debate, the College Republicans' national arm is hitting Iowa's airwaves with a new ad. After poking some fun at President Obama's cringe-inducing "Winning the Future" slogan, the spot implores Iowans to challenge the Republican field of candidates to outline their own specific plans to alleviate the crushing debt crisis:
Even if you find the delivery a little cheesy, the ad's two underlying messages are on target. (1) If Republicans want to unseat President Obama -- which, despite his poor polling, could be an uphill climb -- they'll need to advance a coherent program of credible alternatives to Obama's policies. Harsh condemnations of Obama's horrific budget and faint, reticent applause for the House-passed offering won't suffice. "I'm Not Obama" is a platform that will attract millions of votes, but likely won't be enough to win. (2) The urgency of defusing the debt bomb should be felt most acutely by younger voters, who won't become eligible for the social safety net's protections until long after they've been consumed and eviscerated by current policy and demographic trends:
UPDATE: A brand new Gallup poll shows Obama's approval rating at 43 percent. His strongest demographic in the survey is young voters (aged 18-29)...at 48 percent.