A leaked confidential Republican Party fund-raising document — amusingly titled “Putting the Fun Back in FUNdraising” — is openly disdainful of the party donors it solicits, both big and small.
In the document obtained by Politico that was presented by RNC Finance Director Rob Bickhart to top donors and fund-raisers in Florida on February 18, the party’s fund-raising strategy is communicated in a series of simplistic (and pretty fugly) PowerPoint slides.
The presentation breaks down the party’s fund-raising message by posing the question: “What can you sell when you do not have the White House, the House, or the Senate?” The answer: “Save the country from trending toward Socialism.” And the following slide — titled “The Evil Empire” — provides some fun supporting images: Barack Obama as the Joker shares space with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as Cruella De Vil and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as Scooby Doo.
The 72-page document — which was provided to Politico by a Democrat who got his hands on a hard copy left in the hotel after the retreat — does not mince words in delineating the tactics used to motivate “ego-driven” major donors — who can be won over by promises of “access” and “tchotchkes” — and smaller donors, who, well, you basically just have to scare really badly, engendering in them “extreme negative feelings toward the current administration.”
The document also lists the RNC’s top fourteen Senate targets — a group that includes both New York senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. In which case, they should probably start working on finding, uh, some candidates to run against them, and hopefully people more competent than whoever they have on staff doing clip art.
Exclusive: RNC document mocks donors, plays on ‘fear’ [Politico]
