These people recycle. They have tattoos. They read the New York Times in public.
Your typical coastal liberal elite? No, these people are Republicans, as a video from a veteran of Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign seeks to remind viewers. They drive hybrid cars. They use Apple products. They have feelings.
Vinny Minchillo, who worked on ads for Romney’s presidential campaign, told The New Republic that the video and its accompanying campaign — which includes a website and a hashtag #ImARepublican — was intended to help put an end to the partisan vitriol he feels is directed at his party.
“On social media, I’ve been called every name in the book. It’s become socially acceptable to talk about Republicans in the most evil terms possible and that doesn’t seem right,” he said. “We wanted to do this to really remind people that Republicans are friends, neighbors and do things that maybe you wouldn’t expect them to do.”
And Minchillo seems to be approaching the subject with a bit of good humor.
“People, I’m afraid, think that Republicans spend their days huddling over a boiling cauldron throwing in locks of Ronald Reagan’s hair,” he said. “We thought let’s get out there and show who Republicans really are: regular folks interested in making the world a better place.”
