Fundraising, fear and manipulation
“I can’t imagine why anybody would have thought that was helpful. I mean, typically, the way parties raise money is because people believe in the causes that they advocate. … I don’t like it, and I don’t know anybody who does.”
Those are the words of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell when he was ask to respond by guest host Matthew Dowd on ABC’s This Week regarding a controversial Republican National Committee fundraiser in Florida. On NBC’s Meet the Press, Senator Orrin Hatch also condemned the presentation: “There is no excuse for that kind of stuff.”
The brouhaha that has more than a few of the Republicans leaders upset is the Power Point presentation that was meant to be confidential for some of the GOP’s top donors and fundraisers. The 72-page hard copy of the document was left, one can only assume inadvertently, in a room of the Gasparilla Inn and Club in Boca Grande, Fl. Ben Smith of Politico claims he received the document from a Democrat. I can’t imagine any Republican wanting the information to be made public; the entire document can be accessed at the Politico website.
According to Smith, the presentation was delivered by RNC Finance Director Rob Bickhart and RNC Finance Chairman Peter Terpeluk, who was the “former ambassador to Luxembourg under President George W. Bush.” Several points of the presentation have enraged Democrats and embarrassed Republicans.
One slide is labeled “The Empire of Evil” and features Barack Obama as The Joker with pasty white face makeup, darkened eyes, and smeared red lips; it’s Heath Ledger’s makeup from the last Batman movie, “The Dark Knight.” Underneath the picture is the word “socialism.” Nancy Pelosi is portrayed as Cruella De Vil and Harry Reid as Scooby Doo. The Obama image has become a favorite poster at anti-government rallies.
Is it wrong to portray a black man in white face? Whites wearing blackface, which once was a standard practice in the old minstrel shows, is now racially offensive. What if the president of the United States is portrayed as a comic book/movie villain?
Certainly Democrats had their share of laughing at and criticizing George W. Bush through political cartoons and writing, but did the Democratic National Committee attempt to create an atmosphere of fear to drum up donations by portraying Bush as evil and a criminal?
The Power Point presentation, according to Smith of Politico, asks the following question: “What can you sell when you do not have the White House, the House, or the Senate?” The answer is “Save the country from Socialism.” This one sentence is being marketed like a bar of soap, specifically by playing on the fears of small-time donors.
Actually there are two divisions of donors in what the presentation calls “RNC Marketing 101.” The first are those that can be targeted as “Visceral Giving.” These are the low-end donors who don’t have much to give financially; the average RNC donation was under $40 in 2009 according the presentation. The methods to win over more direct-mailing donors are labeled “Fear,” “Extreme negative feelings toward existing Administration,” and “Reactionary.”
The second group is the wealthy, who are treated differently when being approached for donations. These methods focus on “Peer to Peer Pressure,” “Networking Opportunities,” “Access,” “Wall of Fame,” “Ego-Driven,” and “Personal.” So the rich get flattery and contacts, and the average Joe gets fear.
In an Associated Press article by Erik Schelzig, RNC Chair Michael Steele, who is African American, stated he was “not happy to see” the fundraising presentation. He claims that “he has been the target” of the same “kind of stupidity.” Steele said he had begun an internal review to discover why the presentation “included a direct call to exploit ‘extreme negative feelings’ toward Democrats.”
America has a long history of mocking their leaders in public forums and in print. We have a constitution that allows leaders to be the subjects of unflattering cartoons and satires. Although the RNC fundraising presentation was not meant for public consumption, it has become such. It offers an unkind view on how to raise money by vilifying our first Africa-American president.
ABOUT THE WRITER
Carol Jensen is a long-time Barstow resident, graduating from Kennedy High School and Barstow College, where she was an English instructor for many years. Much of her time now is spent writing political and social commentary. She may be contacted at cajensen49@msn.com.
