At this point, it’s hard not to wonder if the people being hired to do outreach to women on behalf of Republican candidates aren’t all a bunch of Democratic moles. The College Republican National Committee created this ad for Rick Scott, who is running for re-election as governor of Florida, and it appears to be written by men who learned everything they know about women from reading bridal magazines. It’s modeled after TLC’s popular show Say Yes to the Dress, except it’s called “Say Yes to the Candidate” and the “dresses” in this case are Rick Scott and Charlie Crist.
“The Rick Scott is perfect,” says our blond and youthful heroine, Brittany, admiring herself in the mirror while wearing a wedding dress, which is a thing Republicans have heard women like to wear. Her friends ooh and aah. But mom, who is of course a harridan because she dared age past 35, has other ideas. “I like the Charlie Crist,” she says, as we see Brittany—an undecided voter, by the way—in a frumpier dress. “It’s expensive and a little outdated, but I know best.” Ominous music.
It’s cute that the Republicans who created this ad think young women are still getting married! Hopefully it will be a smashing success, leading us to the next one, where Brittany has to decide between two cupcakes, one called “the Scott Walker” and the other “the Mary Burke.” Just remember, only one tastes good if you’re considering an abortion!
Update, Oct. 1, 9:10 p.m.: It turns out Republicans made this ad in bulk. As Bloomberg View’s Jonathan Bernstein notes, “not only does Brittney ‘the undecided voter’ think that ’The Rick Scott is perfect,’ she feels the same way about ’The Rick Snyder,’ ’The Tom Corbett’ and three other dresses. The ads are identical, only the candidate names change.”
