RNC Fallout: 'Ashamed' donor closes checkbook

[kpete]

Source: Politico

March 06, 2010

RNC Fallout: 'Ashamed' donor closes checkbook

A prominent Evangelical figure and Republican donor says he will end his contributions to the organized Republican Party in reaction to the leaked fundraising presentation that advised using "fear" to solicit contributions and displayed an image of President Obama as the Joker from Batman.

Mark DeMoss, who heads a major Christian public relations firm in Atlanta and served as a liaison to the Evangelical community for Mitt Romney in 2008, wrote Chairman Michael Steele yesterday that he was "ashamed" of the presentation, calling depictions of Obama, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Majority Leader Harry Reid "shameful, immature and uncivil, at best."

"I’m afraid the presentation is representative of a culture and mindset within the Republican National Committee," DeMoss, a past member of the RNC's "Eagle" program for top donors who gave the party $15,000 in 2008, wrote in the letter to Steele, which he shared with POLITICO. (DeMoss hasn't given this cycle.) "Consequently, I will no longer contribute to any fundraising entity of our Party—but will contribute only to individual candidates I choose to support."

The letter was copied to House and Senate Republican leaders, whose campaign committees DeMoss said he'd also stop supporting.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0310/RNC_Fallout_Ashamed_donor_says_he_wont_give.html

[Greybnk48]

1. He and I probably disagree about many things, but this is an honest

reaction that shows integrity. Good for him.

[wordpix]

16. too bad more repubs don't have that trait---integrity, that is

[cstanleytech]

38. True but lets be honest there are sadly alot of dems in office who lack that trait to.

[bigworld]

73. If the Democrats created a similar uncivil powerpoint,

I'd do the same to them.

[xchrom]

2. While I applaud this - he should also

Write the same letter to other evangelicals.

I say this as one Christian to another.

[Greybnk48]

3. I agree if I may ( I'm not a Christian).

[xchrom]

4. We all live in the same world. Nt

[AlbertCat]

17. We all live in the same world.

Well.... physically any way....

[yava]

26. I believe goodness is holy!

wherever it comes from

[eShirl]

5. Huh. I guess some of them do have some shame left after all.

[Javaman]

72. They do, but it's so deep within their soul that it finally took this tool

this long to get a clue.

[izquierdista]

6. Lost an honest Republican?

I'm sure the RNC is not worried. It's only a teeny-weenie part of their demographic.

[alfredo]

21. Depends on how wide this story spreads, and if his refusal

gives permission for others to break with the party. I think some have become disenchanted with party politics. Let's face it, the GOP has not really delivered on Abortion, suppressing homosexuality, and christianizing America. Some have found environmentalism.

[Dulcinea]

35. And they never will.

The GOP knows abortion and gay rights are the issues that keep Joe & Jane Sixpack voting Republican. They really only care about catering to the military-industrial complex, where the real money and power are.

[alfredo]

48. But I have been hearing from conservative friends that they

are frustrated by there being no real movement on those issues. That's something we need to exploit. Seed doubt about their intentions. "Why didn't the GOP when they had control of all three parts of government, make abortion illegal and further restrict gay rights"?

Why not make our society more supportive of women and children. Why not be honest with the woman, empower the woman,

[Chulanowa]

64. Depends on how you look at "honest"

He didn't get that $15,000 by the toi lof his hands and the sweat of how brow, I can promise you that

[PSPS]

7. "shameful, immature and uncivil, at best."

Mark DeMoss, who heads a major Christian public relations firm in Atlanta and served as a liaison to the Evangelical community for Mitt Romney in 2008, wrote Chairman Michael Steele yesterday that he was "ashamed" of the presentation, calling depictions of Obama, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Majority Leader Harry Reid "shameful, immature and uncivil, at best."

Big deal. The republican party started turning into its "shameful, immature and uncivil, at best" incarnation with saint reagan, and DeMoss had no qualms about bankrolling it. So I'm not buying it. This is probably pre-2012 posturing for mittens and his magic underwear. Maybe he'll steer some "save the babies" wackos and low-hanging teabaggers into his corner.

[BrklynLiberal]

10. +100

[SusanaMontana41]

23. You mean the same way Frank Schaeffer turned away from the GOP?

Frank Schaeffer helped to found the Religious Right, and now he regrets it. He's become a semi-regular guest on "The Rachel Maddow Show" and speaks with authority about the Right because he was a member of the Right. His is a powerful voice of reason. I take him at his word.

DeMoss had seen enough. I'll take him at his word.

Maybe the GOP will listen to its own; maybe not. For the sake of the country, I hope it does. We need GOP members to grow up, as Rachel said earlier this week.

:hi:

[Roland99]

8. Bullshit. He's still giong to give money. He'll give to make it stop hurting.

[BrklynLiberal]

9. THIS is what it took him to feel ashamed of the RNC?

So much of what they have done in the past 30 years has been a lot worse..and badly affected so many more people.

I am sorry, but NOW he is insulted? NOW he is upset? What about the hundreds and thousands of people who have suffered due to repuke policies over the past 20-30 years? Nothing they did evoked shame until NOW? How pathetic.

[Plucketeer]

13. I'm with you on this!

The shameful, lie-spew and defamation that has constantly flowed from the Right for decades, and it only takes a few cartoons to push this guy over the edge??? PLEASE!:puke:

[PerpetuallyDazed]

45. Considering that most religious folks I know are pretty insulated

from the reality of the world and the nuances of politics, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. We all have our own "wake-up" calls. Frank Schaeffer is a good example.

[Still Blue in PDX]

70. Thank you for your perception!

:thumbsup:
I can personally attest to that. Even though I never formally changed my party affiliation from D to R, back in the 1980s when I started hanging out fairly exclusively with churchy conservative people it was very easy to lose myself.

[eagertolearn]

19. Right even though it was obviuos to us that it was coming from

the RNC now that it has been proven these guys are a little embarrassed!

[PerpetuallyDazed]

44. Cynicism is a disease.

If the Repubs have the fear card, the Dems certainly take dibs on cynicism. We should give the guy his props and hope for the best. If he turns out to be a liar, who cares? Your ego? Think of the payoff if he's not... being inundated by letters of appreciation from both Republicans AND Democrats. I'd rather see a sane Republican than an insane one. :shrug:

[Skittles]

11. I'll give kudos where kudos is due

thank you Mr. DeMoss

[Alcibiades]

12. A big plus is that the "Joker" image is now officially endorsed

by the GOP. So every time they claim that this:



isn't officially endorsed by the GOP, you can simply refer to this:



Straight from the RNC itself.

[craigmatic]

14. The best image there is the one with Reid and Pelosi as the farmer and wife but this is pretty dumb

to be a part of what is supposed to be one of the major governing parties in this country. That guy didn't quit donating because of principles he did it because this shit is embaressing. Who in their right mind would donate to some simplistic bullshit like this? It seems to me like steel and his cronies are taking money out of the cauffers if this is the best they can manage.

[SusanaMontana41]

25. He quit donating because he's embarrassed by one presentation?

I didn't get that out of the piece. DeMoss won't donate anymore because he decries the culture that has taken over the GOP. He's tired of the Tea Party wing's hateful images and messages.

It IS a dumb presentation, craigmatic. And hateful. And it's biting the GOP in the a**.

I'll take DeMoss at his word until he proves me wrong.

[AlbertCat]

18. A question...

... can anyone fathom how Pelosi and Reid being the couple in Grant Wood's "American Gothic" is some kind of insult? Especially from the "Heart Land"/ordinary folk/ anti-elitist -/all American party?

And what's the message of Scoobie Doo? Is their audience 8 years old? Just what is the message here? It makes no sense! It's only message is "We're uncivil, childish and CONFUSED!".

I just don't get it. Even as a smear.

[enuegii]

29. I can see the comparison of Pelosi with Cruella de Ville

and Obama with the Joker from their point of view. Obama & Pelosi = Evil. Yeah, okay I get it. It's bullshit, but I get it... from their point of view it almost makes sense.
But I have always thought the image of the severe looking old couple in "American Gothic" to be hard-right conservative values personified. and which would fit right in to the average Teabagger type family album. What possible connection would Reid and Pelosi have to do with it? That's almost as bizarre as the Scooby Doo reference. Is it something to do with handing out Scooby Snacks to the masses, maybe?
I guess, though, since they've convinced their followers that Obama is both a communist and a nazi, they figure that they don't have to try very hard to make sense anymore.

[Alcibiades]

42. It's the chewbacca defense

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewbacca_defense

As many have noted, their adoption of the whole "Joker thing" didn't make sense, either, and they guy who came up with it said he didn't understand the label "socialism", because there's no moral equivalence between socialism and evil.

Throw a bunch of images up and see what sticks. Sow enough confusion, and folks will become distracted.

[PerpetuallyDazed]

47. It's interesting. What I can gather, conservatives don't see themselves as the personification

of "American Gothic." Maybe it's just too passe? Think of all the blonde, "all-American" bimbos on Fox. Conservative Christians have gone through a similar change in their mega-churches; suddenly, being "sexy" is next to godliness. (Ahem, Sarah Palin?)

[DissedByBush]

33. The truly stupid thing they did

Was get into the middle of it.

It was created by a liberal Democrat (Kucinich supporter) not out of malice but just playing with a Photoshop tutorial to better learn the program.

Then some real idiot put the "socialism" stamp on it.

And it got popular.

If it had any effect it was happening with the Republicans officially keeping their distance.

Then they were truly stupid and jumped in, and got dirty.

And obviously alienated some of their own.

Being bad natured can bite you in the ass.

Of course some on our side got stupid too, accusing the Republicans of racism in creating the image assuming some conservative idiot must have done it who they could attack and lay the blame on. To find out it was a liberal with no ill intent, not good.

[Alcibiades]

41. And, in any event, the Joker isn't a socialist

he's a paragon of capitalism.

[DissedByBush]

49. Wrong joker, this guy is an anarchist n/t

[OnyxCollie]

57. Correct.

In The Dark Knight, the Joker sets fire to all the money he stole. It's not about monetary gains, it's about ideology.

[AlbertCat]

53. accusing the Republicans of racism in creating the image

Um.... I think maybe some other images contributed to the "racism" thing

[DissedByBush]

62. Were those used by the Republican party? n/t

[Ishoutandscream2]

66. Good god

[Jefferson23]

15. Wow, I love watching the Republican party implode, well done!

[Garbo 2004]

20. DeMoss apparently hasn't been paying attention for many years

if only this incident made him "ashamed."

[AlbertCat]

54. He's just ashamed they don't hide it from view now.

[No Elephants]

22. He's still giving to Republicans, so I guess he is not all THAT ashamed.

Me, I would have dropped out after Anita Hill passed a lie detector test the press goaded her into taking.

Or, after the Republicans dug up Genifer Flowers..

Or, after the Republicans dug up Paula Jones and got her a plastic surgeon and Hollywood stylist.

Or, after the Republicans paid for Linda Tripp's plastic surgery.

Or, after the Starr Inquisition.

Lives and families were ruined and people went to jail, but Scooby Doo shamed him? pffffft.

[caseymoz]

24. He couldn't see that was the strategy without the power-point presentation? nt

[cbdo2007]

27. Wow, this is an amazing.....empty gesture!

He's still giving them money, just not through the RNC. Sounds more like he's on a power trip that probably has more to do with something entirely unrelated and is just using this as an excuse to give them some bad press.

[KittyWampus]

43. Can I quote you on that when DU'ers say they'll no longer give to the DNC but to select candidates?

edit- too bad there isn't an organized effort to withhold money from the RNC.

[True_Blue]

28. Caricatures and fear

This method has always been successful in the past, so of course they're going to use it again. The GOP obviously thinks their base are easily manipulated tools. Go figure.

[Amonester]

71. "The GOP obviously thinks their base are easily manipulated tools."

A big majority of their base R easily manipulated tools.

That's the very basic reason why FAUX NEWS exists!

[Grassy Knoll]

30. Boo Hoo..What a tragedy.........

Live by hate and lies, die by hate and lies,
We see right through you Pube-lick-cans . He He !

[pundaint]

31. It's been 35 years, but in Marketing 101 I was taught that fear and sex are the

two best motivators. The Christians don't like sex so fear is what's left. Recent grads: has it changed all that much?

[AlbertCat]

55. The Christians don't like sex so fear is what's left.

Fear of sex.....

[winyanstaz]

32. Well at least he has some sense of right and wrong.....at last.

[snot]

34. I could rec. that we ALL contribute ONLY to candidate whose actions we support.

[SpiralHawk]

36. OMG - you mean there is at least ONE republicon with integrity

It's about freaking time...

[elocs]

37. As usual with DU, no matter what a Republican does to see the light or do what's right

it's never good enough. There's always something more that it is claimed they should be doing, or whatever is done is simply sneered at by those who evidently live lives of perfection.

There is always some more that any of us could do about things and we could always do it better. When something good is done then that is good and just because it doesn't measure up to the degree of good that some believe it should does not make it worthless.

[mitchum]

40. As long as they remain a republican, they have not seen the light or done what's right

You see...it's very simple

[spooky3]

50. Yes; "our Party" suggests he'll just move the religious involvement in politics to

Another Republican target. I can't imagine why any DUer would view that as some type of principled stance.

[DisgustedInMN]

39. Good on him, but...

... let's be realistic. With the SCOTUS 5 traitors to We the People having done their dirty work, anyone that thinks that this is a real problem for Repubs, just plain hasn't been paying attention.

[daleanime]

46. We all need to find something to do...

this bill is really just the beginning of a very long fight to get our nation and government back from the corporations.

[spooky3]

51. Politico's misleading headline

He didn't say he was going to close his checkbook. He is simply going to change the "to" entry. And his reference to "our Party" suggests all future recipients will be Republicans.

[grasswire]

52. DeMoss is connected to Chuck Colson

Big, heavy connections. The guest house on the campus of Colson's non-profit in Reston was called the "DeMoss House" because of all the money funneled from the family to Colson.

[True_Blue]

56. I think the real issue here is that they called their donors "ego driven"

The other stuff wouldn't have bothered them.

[butterfly77]

58. Don't get fooled again...

[SlingBlade]

59. 'Ashamed' ?? Bull Shit !

[bulloney]

60. You mean they didn't realize how they've been perceived by RNC leaders until the presentation?

There must be something intoxicating about following Repub leaders. They can attack the Democrats and be guilty of the thing they attack the Democrats on. Yet, their sheep don't see this?

Look at Repubs' record on fiscal responsibility, family values, life and on and on. Yet, they have the chutzpah to go national and project those things on Democratic candidates. And their sheep don't see it until their party leadership comes right out and tells them they've been played for suckers.

[hatrack]

61. Blah blah blah blah BLAH

I call bullshit.

All of this was right out in the open in the fall of 2008 ("Kill him! "Terrorist!") and well before that.

Now, suddenly, he's shocked, shocked to discover mouth-breathing racist morons the core constituency of the Republic Party - and the Republican Party proceeding with their fundraising efforts on just that basis.

[scentopine]

63. Shocking - our Dem leadership would never use liberals this way...

... right?




Hello?

[AlbertCat]

67. Shocking - our Dem leadership would never use liberals this way...

Well.... I doubt Dems would portray Tom Delay and Newt Gingrich as Cheech and Chong. But the repugs do Pelosi and Reid as one of the most conservative images of America as they could find!
I'll bet the graduates of the Heritage Society that pasted up that page don't even know who Grant Wood is.

So no... they'd never do it THIS way.

[JohnWxy]

65. WELL FINALLY, somebody from that camp saying the GOP demagoguery and appeals to ignorance have

finally reached such a low point that they should not be supported.

While this kind of stuff works with the ignorant demographic it certainly establishes a new low in Republican punk politics.


Recommended.

[cstanleytech]

74. The cynic inside me though thinks that the only reason

that so many are denouncing it is because it leaked out and that if it had not leaked that they would have probably been ok with the game plan.

[SnakeEyes]

68. Nothing to get exicted over for a few reasons...

He said he will still give money to candidates.

This was anti-RNC. Same as the tea party people are right now.

He worked for Romney. This could just be a move to chip away at the RNC elements who are anti-Romney so that he can get better support during his 2012 run.

[RubyDuby in GA]

69. He's not ashamed. This is their tactic to get rid of Michael Steele

They have no shame.