RNC's Oopsie: Leaving Their Entire Fundraising Plan Behind In A Florida Hotel

Who needs Watergate? The Republican National Committee is furiously backpedaling after their offensive and crude fundraising strategy presentation was accidentally left behind following a $2500/head event in Boca Raton, Florida.

The strategy was detailed in a confidential party fundraising presentation, obtained by POLITICO, which also outlines how “ego-driven” wealthy donors can be tapped with offers of access and “tchochkes.” The presentation was delivered by RNC Finance Director Rob Bickhart to top donors and fundraisers at a party retreat in Boca Grande, Florida on February 18, a source at the gathering said. In neat PowerPoint pages, it 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. The presentation explains the Republican fundraising in simple terms. "What can you sell when you do not have the White House, the House, or the Senate...?" it asks. The answer: "Save the country from trending toward Socialism!” Manipulating donors with crude caricatures and playing on their fears is hardly unique to Republicans or to the RNC – Democrats raised millions off George W. Bush in similar terms – but rarely is it practiced in such cartoonish terms. One page, headed “The Evil Empire,” pictures Obama as the Joker from Batman, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leaders Harry Reid are depicted as Cruella DeVille and Scooby Doo, respectively.

See the entire presentation (PDF) which provides exact fundraising goals by demographic and points to which Democratic seats will be targeted. The RNC points to both New York Senators Gillibrand and Schumer as "wild cards" that could be brought down in 2010. Below is their crass strategy to increase donations. Of course, the RNC is saying today that the presentation "would NEVER be used" at the national convention and that chairman Michael Steele "never saw it" and "has nothing to do with it." Hah!