Video: College Republicans Use Wedding Dresses To Contrast Rauner, Quinn

By Chuck Sudo in News on Oct 2, 2014 3:40PM

Republicans across the country are making a late push to get voters to the polls next month by … trying not to appear so Republican.

In one case, it’s failing gracelessly. The College Republican National Committee bought $1 million in mock “Say Yes to the Dress”-style digital ads supporting GOP candidates in battleground states, including Illinois, where Bruce Rauner is in a fight with Pat Quinn for governor.

Check it out.

See? The Bruce Rauner is sleek and stylish, with an open back that doesn't plunge too deep and reveal too much; the Bruce Rauner is Kate Middleton. The Pat Quinn is antiquated and dowdy. It covers too much, like Shelly Winters in The Night of the Hunter.

The ad is also running for candidates in Michigan, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, each edited to cater to crucial races in those states. CRNC chairperson Alex Smith told the Wall Street Journal the campaign is an attempt to woo voters "in a culturally relevant way." Apparently, their version of "culturally relevant" means having a token sassy black friend at the fitting, and a mother pooh-poohing "Brittany's" choice in wedding gown. If anything, the CRNC's ad buy has renewed a discussion about traditional gender roles in society—women relate to weddings and are always on the hunt for a husband, so let's make a commercial framing their election choices that way.

Now if there was a campaign ad featuring Bruce Rauner in a wedding gown, that might spur some people to the polls.