The Republican party's national organising committee was furiously backpedalling after an embarrassing document lampooning Barack Obama and other Democratic leaders as 'evil' was found in a hotel room.

The PowerPoint document, reported by the Washington news website Politico, was delivered by the Republican National Committee's head of fundraising to a closed meeting of select party officials and major donors held in Boca Grande, Florida, last month.

In discussing how to motivate donors to give, a section of the presentation is headlined "The Evil Empire" and carries a picture of Barack Obama made up to look like Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker in the Batman movie The Dark Knight. Democratic party congressional leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are also caricatured as Cruella DeVille and Scooby Doo.

Politico said that the 72-page document was sent to it by a Democrat, who found the original in the hotel where the meeting was held. on 18 February. Sources at the event said a presentation involving the document was given by the RNC's finance director Rob Bickhart and finance chairman Peter Terpeluk, who was ambassador to Luxembourg under the Bush administration.



The document also contained a wealth of embarrassing details about Republican fundraising tactics. Politico reported: "The 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.'"

The document also mentions the $80,000 (£53,000) price tag for donors wanting to join an official RNC visit to meet British Conservative party leader David Cameron in September – after the UK general election, when Republicans hope he will be Britain's prime minister.

The Republican party sought to distance itself from the memo, with an RNC spokesman saying: "Fundraising documents are often controversial". Its statement also said that Michael Steele, the party's 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."

Raynard Jackson, a Republican activist who works to attract blacks and other minority members to the party, told the Washington Post that he was outraged by the presentation: "And the best we can get is Michael Steele issuing a statement through a spokesman? And they wonder why they can't get minorities, especially black people, involved in the party?"