After learning that jobless claims once again increased this week, I couldn’t help but wonder how anyone, anyone, is still supporting President Obama for reelection, much less defending his economic policies.  But as I passed a Prius on the New York Thruway, I was at once reminded of Breitbart’s babysitter, and I realized that indeed a second Obama term is a very real possibility. 

Although I do not know if it is indeed still the case, Andrew Breitbart in Righteous Indignation remarked that his children’s babysitter’s car sported an Obama bumper sticker.  The obvious irony aside, Breitbart’s babysitter admits she knows nothing about politics. 

I assume, as did Andrew Breitbart himself, that the babysitter’s bumper sticker was a status symbol of sorts:  a symbol of coolness.    

And her response, her confessed political ignorance, is indicative of what we Smart Girls are up against this election season:  an ignorant, popularity-driven, youthful demographic whose support for liberal leaders and politicians is as unfaltering as it is baseless. 

Blogging for the Washington Post, Chris Cillizza sums up the coolness factor:  “Here’s a fundamental fact of the 2012 presidential race: President Obama is cool. Mitt Romney isn’t.” 

I don’t believe Breitbart’s babysitter is an exception; in fact, personal (albeit, admittedly, anecdotal) experience has indicated that she is the norm in many blue states.  Here in New York, I am often surrounded by hard-core liberals, and close friends and relatives of mine proudly admit their unwavering and unquestioning support for President Obama’s reelection. 

Some of the more educated liberals I know spew such uncharacteristic, nonsensical reasoning as “Likely no one else would do a better job, so I might as well vote for Obama,” and “Aw, come on, you know he’s trying!”  A forty-something liberal friend, a female no less, plans to vote for Obama because “I just want a president who looks cool and acts cool so I can go on with my life, driving carpools and shopping at Target.” 

These constituents, whose votes count every bit as much as mine and yours, have no knowledge of economics, public policy, or even the Constitution.  But more importantly, they don’t even desire such understanding. 

And it doesn’t require any serious study of economies or international affairs to comprehend that America is not headed in a positive direction under the current administration.  My ignorant friends have been wondering of late why they can’t get a bank to fund a new car loan, or a HELOC for home improvements.  So much for driving carpools and shopping at Target.

But the ignorant and uninterested don’t connect their everyday lives with politics.  What happens in DC, stays in DC as far as these voters are concerned.  And that just makes our job all the more difficult. 

The tanking economy is self-evident.  And the responsibility of the Obama administration for America’s all-around downgraded reputation is also obvious.  But some voters need to be educated, not just about the difficult times our country is facing, but about the president’s responsibility for these difficulties. 

Smart Girls, we have our work cut out for us.  We need to reduce the potential impact of the coolness factor by guiding the campaign focus to issues that matter:  the economy, foreign policy, and fiscal conservatism.   

Engage, empower, and, most certainly, educate.