That's probably not a good way to endear yourself to your party's donors.

In an unforced error, a Powerpoint presentation about fundraising was left behind at a $2,500-a-head retreat in Boca Grande, Florida, held on February 18.  The presentation was delivered by RNC Finance Director Rob Bickhart to top donors and fundraisers.

Politico describes it:

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!”

What's most embarrassing are two pages.

First, this:

Here, it describes small donors (ones who engage in "visceral giving") as driven by "fear" and "reactionary".  This, of course, is true, but it's not something the RNC ought to be saying out loud.  And it attributes large donors to the party as being "ego-driven".  Again, not too flattering.

And then, of course, there's this page, which looks like it came from a third grade Republican group:

Remember: this isn't some Tea bagger protesting sign.  This is the RNC — the Republican Party.  Politico continues:

The RNC reacted with alarm to a question about it Wednesday, emailing major donors to warn them of a reporter’s question, and distancing Steele from its contents.

“The document was used for a fundraising presentation Chairman Steele did not attend, nor had he seen the document,” RNC Communications Director Doug Heye said in an email. “Fundraising documents are often controversial.

“Obviously, the Chairman disagrees with the language and finds the use of such imagery to be unacceptable. It will not be used by the Republican National Committee – in any capacity – in the future,” Heye said.

Too late. The damage appears to have been done — when we peak behind the curtain, the Republican National Committee has no respect for its own supporters, and fully admits that it has little more than cheap and baseless fear-mongering to offer.

DNC Communications Director Brad Woodhouse said in a statement, "If you had any doubt, any doubt whatsoever, that the Republican Party has been taken over by the fear-mongering lunatic fringe, those doubts were erased today…. It's no wonder the RNC reacted with alarm when they learned the American people would see this presentation. This revealing document proves what the Republican party has long denied. But now, by their own admission, the express strategy of the Republican party is not to offer new ideas, but 'fear.' Republicans can no longer deny that they are peddling fear when they are literally selling it as their path back to power."