This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Richmond, Va. • A Republican committee Halloween-themed graphic in Virginia featuring a zombie President Barack Obama with a bullet hole in his forehead has provoked condemnations from the left and right.

The montage was created to rouse interest in GOP activities at Loudoun County's Halloween night parade. It mingles altered images including a disfigured U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi and zombie Obama supporters.

The poster image of a rotting, undead Obama with a bleeding, large-caliber hole an inch above his right eye prompted Democrats to cry foul and state GOP chairman Pat Mullins to denounce it as "disgusting."

A conservative northern Virginia blog called it "shameful."

County GOP chairman Mark Sell said in an email to The Associated Press that the graphic was "a light-hearted attempt to inject satire humor into the Halloween holiday."