Know the Stealth Neos: Frank Luntz

[blondeatlast]

Many DUers wonder why a few of us get so riled up at the use of “Democrat” as an adjective. Of course there are more important things to discuss and debate. But I care about my political party, I’ve invested time, money, and pride into it, and I don’t care to see it deliberately insulted. “Democrat” used as an adjective is indeed insulting. Its incorrect use to insult is not new, but with the advent of TV pundits and hate radio, it is now widespread.

It’s a great example of how Frank Luntz has influenced and perverted political debate.

This is the man who creates the talking points, polls them, discards the crappy ones and incessantly pushes the successful ones to the Right Wing Noise Machine. He’s young, ambitious, Karl Rove Junior, and possessed of an ego Donald Trump envies.

He also has a new book arriving in January and I guarantee (I have access to publicity details) that he will be hitting the talking heads shows--and he WON'T be talking much about the book. The book is just a way to get him on the tube yet again (and pad the NYT and Publisher's Weekly bestseller lists, many of you have read my explanation of how this is done).

Among his contributions to the political disaster that has been Neo:

The Contract On (er, I mean WITH) America

Pay for water? You betcha, and Mr. Luntz is the party responsible. From Source Watch:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=SourceWatch

In March 2004, Grist magazine reported on an emphatic Luntz memo (PDF) sent out in February 2004 discussing Americans' intense feelings on the subject of water: "Young and old, Democrat AND Republican, the demand for clean water is universal. More importantly, the public is willing to pay for it . An overwhelming majority of Americans - 91 percent - agree that 'if, as a country, we are willing to invest BILLIONS of dollars annually in highways and airways, we certainly should be willing to make the necessary investments in our nation's waterways. '" (The italic and bold flourishes are Luntz Research's own.)

9/11 changed everything; we must fight them there so we don’t… (ad nauseum)—yep, that’s from Mr. Luntz
Dictated the linking of “preemption, 9/11, (and) war on terror” with any RW speech about the US involvement in Iraq. The disturbingly cold document is linked here (again from SourceWatch): http://www.sourcewatch.org/images/2/2f/Luntz.pdf

This is his company (amusingly swallowed up by a bigger one in 2005)
http://www.luntz.com/Docs/OmnicomGroupPR071205.pdf

PBS Frontline: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders/interviews/luntz.html


In honor of Mr. Luntz, I am hereby dropping the Con from Neo***.