Putting the Fear Back in Fundraising

If you were wondering what's wrong with Washington, check out this little tidbit. While creating jobs and keeping Americans in their homes has taken a backseat to posturing over who's to blame, election-year fundraising is in the ascendancy.

Case in point:

A Republican left RNC Finance Chairman Rob Bickhart's how-to-fundraise Powerpoint presentation in a hotel ballroom in Florida on February 18. Politico's Ben Smith reports on its contents.

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!”...

In a section called "RNC Marketing 101," the following categories and motivations for giving were outlined:

"...small donors who are the targets of direct marketing are described under the heading “Visceral Giving.” Their motivations are listed as “fear;” “Extreme negative feelings toward existing Administration;” and “Reactionary.”

Major donors, by contrast, are treated in a column headed “Calculated Giving.”

Their motivations include: “Peer to Peer Pressure”; “access”; and “Ego-Driven.”