Dems Fundraise Off RNC Memo

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The Democratic Party is using a lurid Republican National Committee strategy presentation as part of its own pitch for campaign dollars. In two separate emails sent out today, both the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) blasted the RNC presentation, which was reported on Wednesday, for spreading “GOP lies”—and solicited contributions in an effort to stop them.

In an email solicitation Thursday, the DSCC described how the RNC presentation instructed members to “capitalize on fear of President Obama and his ‘trending toward socialism’ to raise money,” citing a slide titled “The Evil Empire” depicting Obama as the Joker. “We know they use fear and lies, but this evidence shows that it is part of a coordinated effort at the highest level of the Republican Party,” the email says. “If this type of attack infuriates you half as much as it infuriates me, you need to act now. Make an immediate donation to the DSCC to fight the Republican lies and smears.”

In a similar email blast, the DCCC cited the RNC presentation to encourage its base to contribute an “Emergency Rapid Response Fund” that would back its effort to pass health reform and protect members in vulnerable districts who support the bill, as Greg Sargent reported earlier this afternoon.

It’s becoming increasingly clear that both sides are trying to capitalize upon fear to rally popular support. The Republicans are bent on demonizing Obama and the Democrats, and the Democrats, in turn, are raising the alarm about the GOP attacks to appeal to their disenchanted base.

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

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