Obama in White Face on Republican PowerPoint
The Republican National Committee plans to fuel fundraising and fire up their base with a campaign that will aggressively play up fear of President Obama and concerns about socialism. That's according to a confidential PowerPoint slideshow.
The document not only contained the strategy-of-fear suggestions and additional unflattering caricatures of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. It also advised that ego-driven donors could be curried with access to events and party big-wigs and cheap giveaways.
The presentation includes a page called "The Evil Empire." It features several caricatures: Nancy Pelosi as Cruella De Vil, Harry Reid as Scooby Doo, and President Obama portrayed in white face paint like the joker from "Batman."
You have to identify something and label it so you can talk about it, and 'socialism' is a good scare word. ... If it's socialism, let's call it that. If not, let's call it something else.
- RNC member Donna Lou Gosney of West Virginia
Democrats have dubbed the fundraising plan, contained in a private GOP document, "RNC Fear-Gate."
They have accused Republicans of adopting extreme Tea Party talking points and called on GOP leaders to repudiate the strategy.
A handful of Republicans have labeled the document "unhelpful."
The document, in the form of a PowerPoint presentation, was presented by RNC Finance Director Rob Bickhart at a fundraisers' retreat in Florida last month. Its existence was reported this week by Politico, a Washington-based political publication.
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Comments
Last night, on the Daily Show, Jon Stewart dissected the power point presentation you describe. Please tell me that you saw the show. I was especially intrigued by the GOP recommendation of "fear" as a good fundraising message. They have finally admitted what I know they have been doing for decades. Most of their campaigns inject fear of something. In the past, their fear mongering was aimed at justifying and expanding the military-industrial complex.
I have lived through a lot of their hyped fear: McCarthyism, Goldwater's presidential ad with the little girl and atomic explosion, the Cold War, the Viet Nam war justifications -- the domino theory and the Gulf of Tonkin. Don't forget the Granada invasion. (They were building an airport that would accomodate Russian cargo planes.) Now, we have the fictional threats of death panels, cuts in Medicare and, OMG, socialism. All of which, according to FOX News are being "shoved down our throats".
I'm glad that you posted the facts on their latest strategy (read plot).
Can you believe I forgot to mention the "fear" of MWD and the madman Saddam Hussein