Depiction of Obama in RNC presentationA confidential Republican National Committee (RNC)
PowerPoint presentation about fundraising strategies discusses raising money for the 2010 election cycle by capitalizing on donors' fear of President Obama and promising to "save the country from trending toward socialism." One page of the presentation titled "The Evil Empire" depicts Obama as the Joker from Batman, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as Cruella DeVille, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as Scooby Doo. Another page explains that major donors who engage in "calculated giving" are "ego-driven," react to "peer to peer pressure" and are motivated by "access," while smaller donors -- called "visceral donors" -- are "reactionary," motivated by "fear" and "extreme negative feelings toward existing Administration." The presentation, titled "Tools for Success," was prepared by Party finance staff and delivered by RNC Finance Director Rob Bickhart at a $2,500-a-head party retreat held in Boca Grande, Florida on February 18. The full 72-page document was provided to Politico.com by a Democrat who found a hard copy that was left behind in the hotel where the RNC hosted the event.

The conservative blogosphere is busy charging that the United States Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) new logo looks suspicious ... like a combination of the Muslim crescent moon and Barack Obama's campaign logo. Some even say they detect a similarity to the logo of Iran's Space Agency. Right wing blogger Frank Gaffney, a former senior official at the Pentagon during the Reagan administration, says something "nefarious is afoot" about the new logo. These latest Obama conspiracy-theorists may be disappointed, though, because it turns out that the agency's "new" logo isn't all that new. MDA spokesman Rick Lehner says it was developed three years ago, during the George W. Bush administration, and a full year before the 2008 presidential campaign. Lehner said the logo was chosen because it is cheaper, since it consists of three colors, as opposed to the five colors contained in the agency's former official logo.

House Representative Bob Marshall (R-Virginia), speaking at a press conference on February 18 to oppose funding for Planned Parenthood, said that disabled children are God's punishment for women who have aborted their first pregnancy. Marshall said,

"Looking at it from a cultural, historical perspective, this organization should be called 'Planned Barrenhood' because they have nothing to do with families, they have nothing to do with responsibility ... The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children. In the Old Testament, the first born of every being, animal and man, was dedicated to the Lord. There's a special punishment, Christians would suggest."

But the following week, Marshall disputed the accuracy of his statements, claiming they were taken out of context and that the complete opposite was true: "I don't believe that disabled kids are God's punishments, period, end of discussion. I have defended disabled kids." He also put out a press release insisting that he is a champion of disabled children, and saying he "regrets any misimpression my poorly chosen words may have created."

CMD's Senior Fellow on Health Care, Wendell PotterThe House of Representatives today introduced legislation to repeal an exemption to federal anti-trust laws that the insurance industry, including health insurers, has enjoyed since 1945. The McCarran-Ferguson Act of 1945 gave states the authority to regulate the insurance business without interference from federal regulation, unless federal law expressly provides otherwise. Federal anti-trust laws protect consumers by preventing unfair business practices like price-fixing, bid-rigging, and allocation of markets, and are aimed at helping keep competition honest. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a press conference February 23 to announce the "Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act," and the Center for Media and Democracy's Senior Fellow on Health Care, Wendell Potter, was invited to speak at the event. Mr. Potter, who worked inside the insurance industry for 20 years, said the exemption for insurers has "contributed to a health care system that has become one of the most dysfunctional and one of the most expensive in the world. And it is time that the health insurance industry begins to abide by the same rules and regulations that every other industry in this country has to abide by." Democrats hope the bill will lower premiums by giving consumers more choices. The White House supports the legislation. The insurance industry's trade group, America's Health Insurance Plans, opposes the measure, saying that their industry is already highly regulated and that mergers and other business practices are already subject to federal anti-trust laws. They also say the law would create "legal uncertainty," which would be bad for the industry. Read Mr. Potter's entire statement in support of the bill here.

A group called the Committee for Truth in Politics (CTP) is running ads in selected states opposing the "Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act," which would overhaul the country's financial sector, more tightly regulate consumer financial products like home mortgages, car loans and credit cards, and help prevent another Wall Street meltdown. CTP has no Web site and refuses to disclose any information about its spending to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The organization was created by a North Carolina Republican operative named William L. "Bill" Peaslee, and it is represented by attorney James Bopp, Jr., who has sued the FEC saying the group shouldn't have to file any spending reports with the government. Bopp is the same person who drafted the Republican National Committee's "Purity Resolution," which threatens to cut off funding for any Republican who fails to support a list of far-right conservative values and beliefs. CTP is running its ads in Arkansas, Connecticut, Colorado, Illinois, Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. The ads are aimed at confusing people by portraying the financial reform bill as a "new $4 trillion bailout for banks" -- language that was suggested by discredited GOP pollster and wordsmith Frank Luntz, who recently urged Republicans to stoke opposition to the consumer-friendly legislation by portraying it as filled with bank bailouts, lobbyist loopholes and additional layers of complicated government bureaucracy.

Citizens in the Ukraine are starting to see American-style campaign sloganeering and other tactics in the race between their Prime Minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, and her main rival, Viktor Yanukovich, for the office of President. Tymoshenko's banners, billboards and posters bear slogans like "They talk, she works," "They promise, she works," and "They betray, she works." The ad campaign is significant because it is the product of the American political consulting firm AKP&D Message & Media, the company founded by President Obama's chief advisor, David Axelrod. Axelrod's son, Michael, still works for the firm. Mr. Yanukovich is being advised by Paul Manafort, a Republican strategist from the firm Davis, Manafort & Freedman, Inc., which has advised several U.S. presidents. Ukraine's outgoing president, Victor Yushenko, received American-style help and campaign advice from Hillary Clinton's campaign strategist, Mark Penn, who was president of the big American PR firm, Burson-Marsteller. The Ukraine is a gold mine for big American political firms, since it is one of the largest countries in Europe, has obscure and weakly-enforced campaign laws, and the major Ukrainian political parties are backed by big businesses, with money to finance professional campaigns.

Palin's crib notesEx-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is becoming more vocal and visible in recent days, and indications are that the upswing will continue. Fox News is building a television studio in Palin's living room in her home in Wasilla, Alaska, so she will be able to reach her political base without leaving home. Palin also sends messages out to her 1.3 million Facebook friends, writes columns for newspapers, sends out Tweets and signs copies of her books for donors to her political action committee. Last weekend, she delivered a paid speech to the Salina, Kansas Chamber of Commerce, headlined the national Tea Party convention in Nashville and make an appearance in Texas to support Governor Rick Perry's re-election bid. She also emailed an endorsement for Dr. Rand Paul in Kentucky's Republican Senate primary and, through Facebook, and called for the resignation of White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, for using the term "retarded" in a private meeting. Palin also received some criticism for referring to President Obama in her Nashville speech as a "charismatic guy with the teleprompter," while referring to crib notes she had scrawled on her hand during the same speech.