--- title: Americans for Shared Prosperity Ad Compares Barack Obama to a Bad Date description: Critics are saying the Republican group is capitalizing on NFL news by comparing Obama to an abusive boyfriend canonical: https://time.com/3421894/obama-ad-war-on-women/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-23T15:02:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:01:40.167Z og:title: Americans for Shared Prosperity Ad Compares Barack Obama to a Bad Date og:description: Critics are saying the Republican group is capitalizing on NFL news by comparing Obama to an abusive boyfriend og:url: https://time.com/3421894/obama-ad-war-on-women/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3f1646b8ea80ca93/6986a4b9169ab0269327b528/screen-shot-2014-09-23-at-10-41-51-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1279 og:image:height: 719 og:image:alt: Screen Shot 2014-09-23 at 10.41.51 AM og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Americans for Shared Prosperity Ad Compares Barack Obama to a Bad Date twitter:description: Critics are saying the Republican group is capitalizing on NFL news by comparing Obama to an abusive boyfriend twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3f1646b8ea80ca93/6986a4b9169ab0269327b528/screen-shot-2014-09-23-at-10-41-51-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Anti-Obama Ad Compares President to a Bad Online Date > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ed12f5c3-d54e-4dcc-9dc7-2ae258b2e0ce&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: AFSP | Dating Profile [Watch (HLS stream): AFSP | Dating Profile](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gE5isLzH.m3u8) (1:00)  _Published 2014-09-23. AFSP | Dating Profile_  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Sep 23, 2014 3:02 PM UTC AFSP | Dating Profile  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Sep 23, 2014 3:02 PM UTC An outside Republican group, Americans for Shared Prosperity, is running a new ad that compares President Obama to a bad boyfriend. The 60-second spot features a woman talking about a man she met online in 2008 with a seemingly perfect profile: “smart, handsome, charming articulate.” But since, their relationship has soured. AFSP bashes Obama for recent NSA spying scandals and the president’s foreign policy as if they were personal transgressions. “He’s in my emails and text messages, spying on me but ignoring real threats,” the woman says. The ad goes on to critique Obamacare: “He thinks the only thing I care about is free birth control, but he won’t even let me keep my doctor.” Some have slammed the spot for seemingly comparing Obama to an abusive partner. The woman says her relationship with “Barack” was on the rocks in 2008 but she “stuck with him because he promised he’d be better. He’s great at promises.” Critics say the ad’s language echoes too closely that of the recent #WhyIStayed movement in which domestic abuse victims explained why they remained with their abuser. Many listed false promises of change among the reasons for staying. > [](https://twitter.com/CatawbaPolitics/status/513699358941147136) > [](https://twitter.com/eliasisquith/status/513731078977486848) > [](https://twitter.com/bentonstrong/status/513679241406599168) Others have lambasted the ad for being condescending to women by assuming they can only understand politics through the language of dating: > [](https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/514095662778966016) The ad is airing in North Carolina, where Democratic Senator Kay Hagan will has a tough reelection battle ahead of him. Head of the outside group, Californian multimillionaire John Jordan, [told Politico](http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=71814B0A-FD7B-4C31-8A5C-ED76C63D1928) that he was disturbed when the democrats cast Republican policy as a “war on women” in the 2012 cycle and that this ad and another one yet-to-air will push back against that notion. He says this ad was designed “to communicate with women voters in a way that outside groups and campaigns haven’t.” He added, “The purpose of this is to treat women voters more like adults.” ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] In 2008, I fell in love. His online profile made him seem so perfect, smart, handsome, charming, articulate, all the right values, I trusted him. But by 2012, our relationship was in trouble but I stuck with him because he promised he'd be better. He's great at promises. He told me we'd be safe. Have you looked at the news? He's in my e- mails and text messages. Spying on me but ignoring real threats. He said that we'd finally get on our feet financially. I'll never pay down what he spent. [ MUSIC ] He thinks the only thing I care about is free birth control but he won't even let me keep my own doctor. I know I'm stuck with Barack for two more years, I get that, but I'm not stuck with his friends. I'm looking for someone who gets that this isn't about him. 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