Jason Mattera On Quest to Eliminate "Obama Zombies"

Jason Mattera, author of Obama Zombies, hopes that people like me have seen the light.

“I think many Obama zombies are having buyer’s remorse,” he said, using the term he coined to refer to what he believes is an immature, uninformed, brainwashed electorate between the ages of 18 and 30.

“There was such euphoria surrounding Barack during the 2008 elections, especially with young people,” said Mattera, who is in his late twenties. “As though the election of this politician would somehow cause iPods to drop from the skies, and their student loans would melt away forever!”

Many of his peers, he believes, thought they were voting for the Fresh Prince of Bel Air and not for a President. “They got caught up in the uber-swag-cool campaign, the ‘yes we can,’” Mattera added. “And now the sizzle has fizzled for many Obama zombies.”

In this slumping economy, many of those kids have been unable to find jobs and make adequate money, forcing them to move back in with their parents. “It’s not just about elections being lost,” Mattera told Imus. “It’s about losing an entire generation of young people who are not versed in the idea of limited government and free markets.”

He’s not sure who on the GOP side can similarly inspire his contemporaries, but he encourages the Republican Party to focus more on the tactics Obama employed in 2008—and still uses today—than on mirroring Obama the person.

“Barack Obama was always speaking, and still does to this day, on a college campus,” said Mattera. Obama also utilized and harnessed social networking and new media tools.

“He targeted young people where they’re at,” Mattera pointed out. “Contrast that with Gramps, John McCain—God bless him for what he did for this country—but his internet outreach to young people consisted of a game called Pork Invaders that looked like Pac-Man circa 1980.”

His goal with Obama Zombies is to “pimp-slap” people his age back to reality. “Eighteen-year olds 65 years ago were facing down Nazis, defeating Nazis,” he said. “Eighteen-year olds today, their hardship is, ‘Oh my internet connection is slow!’”

Mattera filmed a slew of what he calls “ambush videos,” and one in particular show him grilling Sen. Al Franken, whom calls “Senator Smalley,” about the health care bill.

“I’ve got to confront the dude, because members of the media treat leftist politicians as though they’re at a Jonas Brothers concert,” he said.

Someone like Marco Rubio, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Florida, appeals to Mattera, because “He’s articulate, young, and has Conservative convictions.” But he conceded that turning his generation on to Republicanism is an uphill battle.

“It’s going to take a candidate who doesn’t look like their dad,” observed Imus, who, incidentally, will not be running for office any time soon.  

-Julie Kanfer