The always-controversial Lena Dunham strikes again with a new campaign ad for Barack Obama, in which she compares voting for the first time to losing your virginity.
In the video, called “Your First Time,” Lena says, “Your first time shouldn’t be with just anybody. You want to do it with a great guy.” She goes on to list reasons to vote for Obama: health insurance, access to birth control, bringing the troops home from Iraq, the Lilly Ledbetter Act, and gay marriage.
“My first time voting was amazing,” Lena says. “It was this line in the sand. Before, I was a girl. Now I was a woman. I went to the polling station and pulled back the curtain. I voted for Barack Obama.”
Lena tweeted, “My first time was with @BarackObama – I highly recommend you do the same #Obama2012” with a link to the video, following up with another tweet reading “The video may be light but the message is serious: vote for women’s rights.”
Reactions to the ad have been split. The YouTube video currently has more dislikes than likes, conservative commentators have tweeted and blogged their criticisms, and Slate has criticized Lena for losing her voting virginity to Obama in 2008, not Kerry in 2004, when she was first eligible. It’s gotten plenty of praise as well, with Salon calling it “a cute, sincere spot” and GQ calling it “damn funny.”
As always, Lena knows how to get people talking. Let’s hope she gets them voting, too.
Image from www.facebook.com/obamastudents
