Memo Reveals GOP Plan to Exploit Fear of Obama

(March 4) -- In the blood sport of politics, you never want the other team to see your playbook -- especially if what's in it makes your fans look bad. A Republican National Committee fundraising presentation that hit the Internet Wednesday is just such a playbook.

The 72-page document obtained by Politico's Ben Smith (click here to view) lays out a strategy to fan fears that President Barack Obama is moving the country toward socialism. The PowerPoint presentation uses the words "reactionary" and "ego-driven" on a page describing potential GOP donors. Another page, labeled "The Evil Empire," includes the infamous "Obama Joker" poster and cartoon images likening House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Cruella de Vil (misspelled as DeVille on the slide) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to Scooby-Doo.

The presentation, delivered on Feb. 18 by RNC Finance Director Rob Bickhart at a party retreat in Florida, "lifts the curtain on the often-cynical terms of political marketing, displaying an air of disdain for the party's donors that is usually confined to the barroom conversations of political operatives," Smith wrote. The document came from a Democrat, who said a copy had been left at the hotel in Boca Grande that hosted the retreat, according to Politico.

Democrats were quick to pounce on their opponent's fumble. Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse fired off a statement charging that the presentation erased all doubts that "the Republican Party has been taken over by the fear-mongering lunatic fringe" and has "sunk to new and unbelievable lows."

The GOP fundraising plan shows "the contempt that the party has for its donors," said The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder, who predicted Bickhart would be fired.

"Massaging egos and trigger points and using psychological techniques like peer-to-peer pressure -- that's Fundraising 101. But you're not supposed to tell the donors -- or anyone -- that they're being manipulated," Ambinder noted.

One of the few conservative commentators to touch the story so far questioned Ambinder's claim that donors are being manipulated. Citing the president's sinking approval ratings, Hot Air's Allahpundit said fear of Obama's agenda may well be "the key to big money" for the next election. However, the blogger acknowledged that "calling your donors 'reactionary' and 'ego-driven' isn't usually the quickest way to their wallets" and dismissed the Evil Empire pictures as "stupid and amateurish."

Americablog's John Aravosis singled out the image of Obama with his face painted white and the word "socialism" below. That alone, said Aravosis, deserves an apology directly to the president from RNC Chairman Michael Steele, an African-American.

Steele, who's already having trouble with large donors, is also under fire for sending fundraising letters that resemble U.S. Census forms.

Even before Politico's story hit the Web, the RNC sent an e-mail assuring supporters that Steele didn't know what was in the PowerPoint presentation and didn't attend the Florida meeting.

"Fundraising documents are often controversial. Obviously, the chairman disagrees with the language and finds the use of such imagery to be unacceptable. It will not be used by the Republican National Committee -- in any capacity -- in the future," Communications Director Doug Heye wrote.

"In many ways, the document is a parody of what liberals think conservatives are actually like," said The Daily Beast's Eric Alterman, who thought it went "far beyond any precedent for official party fundraising practices."

On the other hand, Wonkette's Jim Newell was one of many on the left who weren't surprised at all.

"Uh-oh! Somebody found the playbook, and it's full of secret, evil GOP strategies that have been obvious to any human being who's watched any half-second of any news coverage at any point in the last 30 to 200 million years," he said. "Although the Scooby-Doo imagery is new, hadn't considered that yet." (Newell wasn't the only one struck by the strategic use of the goofy cartoon dog. From Firedoglake's David Dayen: "Whoever thought of comparing Harry Reid to Scooby-Doo, unlike 10 million Americans, draws a paycheck. That's the most I can say about that.")

Salon's Alex Koppelman reported on one former RNC official who described the presentation as "ham-handed" and in "very poor taste" -- but not exactly unexpected, either.

"Maybe I'm coming across as cynical, and I don't mean to be, but I guess from long years of doing this I'm not particularly shocked to see this," the ex-official told Salon. "I think that this is probably unfortunately a reflection of the state of political affairs today."