Frank Luntz: Republican Spin Doctor, Part I

Frank Luntz on Fox News by crooksandliars.com

Frank Luntz is a Republican political consultant and pollster. He has most notably worked with Fox News as a frequent commentator and analyst and a Republican Party consultant. You might have remembered Luntz from his use of focus groups during the previous presidential debates. Luntz specializes in “testing language and finding words that will help his clients sell their product or turn public opinion on an issue or candidate”. In other words, Luntz is a political spin doctor. Think of Luntz when Republicans come up with a piece of legislation called “The Clear Skies Initiative” which allows polluters to self-regulate.

Last week, at the Republican Governors Association’s annual meeting, GOP leaders had a chance to talk and strategize with Luntz about how to deal with the Occupy movement. Luntz said of the movement, “I’m so scared of this anti-Wall Street effort. I’m frightened to death…They’re having an impact on what the American people think of capitalism.”

Luntz went on to list 10 do’s and don’ts for Republicans when fielding questions from their constituents. The following are the first five on the list, as reported by Yahoo News, along with my commentary. Next week, I will comment on the remaining 5 do’s and don’ts on Luntz’s list.

1. Don’t say ‘capitalism.’

F.L.: ”I’m trying to get that word removed and we’re replacing it with either ‘economic freedom’ or ‘free market,’ “Luntz said.”The public . . . still prefers capitalism to socialism, but they think capitalism is immoral. And if we’re seen as defenders of quote, Wall Street, end quote, we’ve got a problem.”

D.W.: I love this first statement by Luntz. I find the statement to be extremely revealing.  It’s tempting to write a whole article just on this point. In fact, Rush Limbaugh was so upset at Luntz’s comment on capitalism, Limbaugh went on an unusual screech attacking the Republican spin doctor for even suggesting capitalism is becoming a bad word. But Luntz is right. Unregulated capitalism has been proven, time and time again, to have disastrous consequences on the economy.

The Occupy movement has made it clear, both the Republicans and the Democrats have been far too cozy with the banks and other big corporate interests. Both parites have allowed the corporate industrial complex to run amok. Luntz doesn’t want Republican’s to be overtly seen as championing the capitalist cause over the interested of the general public. However, it’s a little too late for that one.

2. Don’t say that the government ‘taxes the rich.’ Instead, tell them that the government ‘takes from the rich.’

F.L.: ”If you talk about raising taxes on the rich,” the public responds favorably, Luntz cautioned. But “if you talk about government taking the money from hardworking Americans, the public says no. Taxing, the public will say yes.”

D.W.: This is where Luntz’s evil genius comes out. Luntz wants Republicans to suggest to Americans that taxes are a bad thing. It is government taking something away from you. Taxes are therefore personally harmful and the government is acting like a bully by stealing away your money. By suggesting this, Republicans want Americans to be resentful of their government, rather than supportive.

Now I know there is a long and healthy history of Americans from both the political left and right distrusting their government. It is that distrust that often keeps the government in check. However, by framing taxes as an abuse of power, Luntz shifts the debate away from the normal and healthy distrust of the government into a position closer to a hatred for our government. This is not a healthy understanding of what taxes do. Without taxes we would not have a police force to protect us, fire department, roads, public schools, or a military. Taxes not only take from us, they also give us the things that make our lives better. Most American believe paying their taxes is duty to “God  and county.”

In addition, I would not call someone like Paris Hilton a “hardworking American.” Nor would I call day traders that spend their morning hours gambling on the stock market “hardworking American”. Many of the ultra rich are neither working hard nor are they really adding jobs to our economy. Yet, thanks to the GOP, they pay a smaller percentage of the income in taxes than many in the middle class. This is just wrong.

3. Republicans should forget about winning the battle over the ‘middle class.’ Call them ‘hardworking taxpayers.’

F.L.: “They cannot win if the fight is on hardworking taxpayers. We can say we defend the ‘middle class’ and the public will say, I’m not sure about that. But defending ‘hardworking taxpayers’ and Republicans have the advantage.”

D.W.: Notice how in rule number two Luntz calls the richest 1 %  “hardworking Americans” and now in rule number three the “middle class”, 50% of Americans, are also “hardworking taxpayers.” Revealingly, Luntz concedes the Republicans cannot honestly claim to defend the middle class. That is a losing battle for the GOP. No one really believes the Republicans are defending the middle class.  (Not that the Democrats have done much better in defending the interests of the middle class either.) However, to deflect that reality, Luntz suggests the middle class are essentially the same as the richest “1%”. The middle class are all just “hardworking taxpayers”. Never mind the fact that Republicans have been actively working to destroy unions and the social safety nets which have been directly responsible for building America’s the middle class.

4. Don’t talk about ‘jobs.’ Talk about ‘careers.’

F.L.: ”Everyone in this room talks about ‘jobs,’” Luntz said. “Watch this.”

He then asked everyone to raise their hand if they want a “job.” Few hands went up. Then he asked who wants a “career.” Almost every hand was raised.

“So why are we talking about jobs?”

D.W.: Of course if you are in the top 1% you most likely are not in need of a job. Careers usually come after you have a job. Luntz wants the Republicans to avoid talking about jobs and go onto some lofty ideological message about individuals creating a career for themselves.

I have a friend who is a pediatrician and owned her own home and medical practice. Her son became sick and her health insurance company dumped her. Because of her income and career the state and federal government wouldn’t help her. However, as her son’s medical bills added up she eventually lost her home and medical practice and found herself homeless before she was eligible for any government assistance. It took her more than three years to find another job in her profession. When I met her, she was serving drinks and taking orders at a coffeehouse.

Tens of millions of Americans lost their jobs and careers as a result of the Republican pushed policies to deregulate the banks. Others, like my friend, lost it all as a result of a healthcare system that is overly reliant of capitalism and profits over people. It is not their fault that the economy collapsed, they were laid off, or our healthcare system is so broken that it drives tens of thousands of families into bankruptcy each year. The nation’s high unemployment numbers are a result of the Republicans, and the Democrats alike, making policies that allowed Wall Street to take, or more like steal, hardworking American’s jobs and the retirement funds that went with them.

With advice like this coming from Luntz, it is no surprise the GOP has not done anything to create a jobs bill in congress and has done everything possible to hamper Obama’s successful 1.5 million new jobs Stimulus bill. Republicans don’t want to talk about jobs because they don’t want to actually work to fix the unemployment problem. If they did, that would have made Obama look good, and the GOP is not having any of that. This of course goes to the fact that the Republicans have proven they are willing to put their own partisan interests ahead of everyday hardworking, unemployed or underemployed, Americans that just want to go back to work.

5. Don’t say ‘government spending.’ Call it ‘waste.’

F.L.: “It’s not about ‘government spending.’ It’s about ‘waste.’ That’s what makes people angry.”

D.W. As Republican icon Ronald Reagan famously said, “There he goes again.” Luntz wants Republicans to create an atmosphere in which Americans resent and are angry at their government.  Of course we all dislike wasteful spending. But that is not what Luntz wants the GOP message to say. What Luntz is suggesting is all ‘government spending’ is wasteful. That means spending money to retrofit that bridge that is about to collapse is an example of government waste. That is why the GOP is block the presidents jobs bill that will build and retrofit a small fraction of our nation’s infrastructure

Frank Luntz is known for his gift of framing (falsely, in my opinion) political debates. Often his selective use of words seems designed to deflect and confuse Americans, not bring them to a better understanding. In a PBS interview Luntz gave in 2004, he spoke of how he uses language to appeal to American’s emotions. It is a powerful technique, but not always honest.

The first five do’s and don’t explores how Republicans would like Americans to view the rich, middle class, and poor. The list exposes the Republicans plan to turn Americans against their government. In addition, the list exploits American emotions for political gain. From my point of view, the list exposes the Republicans cynical ideology and brings to light the deep commitment to distort the truth. The second half of the list reveals how Republicans plan on framing the Occupy movement. Essentially, they wish to appear as the political party that understands the Occupy movement and supports their goals, by offering more of the same policies that economically brought the nation to its knees in the first place. Visit this site next week for part two.

Why the Occupy Movement is Winning!

Occupy Tucson poster

(Originally posted at the Daily Censored for Project Censored).

Listen to Fox News and the screaming right-wing, and you might think the screaming left-wing were a bunch of lazy, unemployed drumbeating freeloaders that are pitching tents in public spaces and defecating on the streets. However, you don’t need to go to Fox News for such ridiculous notions. After the Huffington Post headlined video of last night’s police raid on the Occupy Wall Street encampment in Zuccotti Park, the live Twitter feed was all abuzz with such right-wing smear comments, designed to delegitimize the Occupy movement.

Yet, it is hard to delegitimize a movement that is spreading world-wide and calling into question the legitimacy of the corrupt institutions of corporations and the government. Thanks to Republicans, a populous progressive movement is gaining traction and right-wing name calling is not going to stop it.

Nor will police nightsticks and pepper-spray. Like it or not, the Occupy movement is here to stay (well at least till next year’s presidential election). The reason why they will stay, and continue to grow is because the Occupy movement has already shown its effectiveness.

For all those on the right, center, and left that have argued against the movements main tactic (which is to occupy a location), you may want to consider the host of successes the movement have already accomplished. For those that suggest the movement needs a leader, I ask you what other movement has accomplished so much in so little time? This Thursday, November 17, the movement will hold protests in over 300 cities nationwide will be celebrating the movements two month anniversary.

One of the stated aims of the Occupy movement clearly has been to address the egregious behavior of the “Too Big to Fail” banks, especially the way they are handling small business loans and foreclosures. There have been several successes on this front. With majority support for the progressives issues that surround this movement, Americans nationwide expressed anger at Bank of America’s announcement to add a $5 service fee to their ATM debit card users. Customers responded with overwhelming disapproval and two weeks after the announcement Bank of America reversed course and withdrew the service fee. However, by that time it was too late, supporters of the Occupy movement hooked up with the Move Your Money campaign and helped promote a national Move Your Money day in which nearly a half a million people, over the course of a few days, began moving their money out of the big banks and into the local, credit union banks.

And then there is the grassroots efforts by local Occupy encampments to help individuals who are going through foreclosures. Last Friday, Amy Goodman, host of DemocracyNow! ran an incredible segment on the local victories on the Occupy movement. The following are a couple excerpts from this segment of the show:

Amy Goodman: Well, we turn now to an offspring of the Occupy Wall Street movement: the Occupy Homes movement. The loose-knit coalition of activists aim to stave off pending evictions by occupying homes at risk of foreclosure when tenants enlist their support.

The movement has recently enjoyed a number of successes. In New York, Occupy Wall Street protesters occupied a derelict Harlem building’s boiler room until the landlord agreed to provide adequate heat and hot water to tenants. Meanwhile, in California, Occupy Los Angeles protesters held a vigil outside a home at risk of foreclosure, then organized a sit-in at the Pasadena regional office of Fannie Mae. The bank eventually called off the eviction and agreed to renegotiate the homeowner’s mortgage.

And in Minnesota, a woman is crediting the support of Occupy protesters in helping her gain more time to move out of her foreclosed home. Ruth Murman, a small business owner who has not received a paycheck in three years, explained how the Occupy Minneapolis movement helped her.

Goodman goes on to interview three guests, Nick Espinosa with Occupy Minneapolis, Max Rameau with Take Back the Land, and Monique White, a homeowner facing foreclosure that has enlisted Occupy Minneapolis’ help. Like with the Move Your Money organization, progressives movements are harnessing the power of the Occupy movement and shifting the tide of influence from the “Too Big to Fail” banks and their government cronies, to the consumers and “We the People” in general.

Another success of the Occupy movement has been in the environment. For some that have missed it, the Keystone X.L. pipeline was a proposed project to send Canadian tar sands oil down to Texas, where they could exports the oil, tax free. The problem was the pipeline was planned to go over millions of peoples drinking water source and, of course, only perpetuate our dependency on oil.

Naomi Klein is the award winning author of the book The Shock Doctrine and Bill McKibben is the founder of the non-profit environmental organization 350.org. McKibben’s organization helped organize the massive protests against the Keystone X.L. pipeline project around the White House over the last three months. Speaking in at a conference in New York, Klein talks about how the Occupy movement help build the momentum and possibly influenced the White House to call for a further review of the X.L. Pipeline project. Here is an excerpt where Klein explains the connection:

“Naomi Klein: And when Occupy Wall Street happened, I had a conversation with Bill McKibben, who has just been the powerhouse behind this campaign, just a hero. And I said to Bill, “I think this is helping us. What do you think?” And he said, “I think it’s helping us, too.” And the reason we believe this is because—precisely what Patrick was talking about—the ground has shifted, the climate has shifted. And what it would mean for Obama to cave in to this corporation, especially after we exposed all the cronyism going on between TransCanada and the State Department and TransCanada and the White House, this kind of corruption is precisely what’s on trial in parks and plazas around the world right now. And now that it’s been exposed, this has become the ultimate example. You know, as Bill said, we’re occupying—we’re occupying Wall Street because Wall Street is occupying the State Department. So there is a—there’s been a clear connection between, and a conversation between, these campaigns. I don’t think we would have won without Occupy Wall Street. I really—I can’t imagine how we could have. And this is what it means to change the conversation. And that’s why this whole idea—you know, “What are their demands?” and, you know, “What are they trying to accomplish?” There are already victories happening. And this is just one example of it.

What I find exciting is the idea that the solutions to the ecological crisis can be the solutions to the economic crisis and that we stop seeing these as two problems to be pitted against each other by savvy politicians, but that we see them as a single—single—crisis born of a single root, which is unrestrained corporate greed that can never have enough. And that is that mentality that trashes people and that trashes the planet and that would shatter the bedrock of the continent to get out the last—the last drops of fuel and natural gas. It’s the same mentality that would shatter the bedrock of societies to maximize profits. And that’s what’s being protested.”

As usual, Naomi Klein hits the nail on the head. Both the ecological and economic crisis are merging into a unified root cause to the problem, “unrestrained corporate greed”. The Occupy movement is not anti-capitalist. Rather, it is anti-unrestrained corporate greed. It is the greed that argue corporations are people, all the while putting profits above actual people. And it is the Occupy movement that has put all these issues back on America’s table.

It has been reported that the Occupy movement is now linked up to no less than 30 working groups connected to essentially every liberal progressive cause imaginable. This is not a little accomplishment. Nor is Occupy a movement that can be accurately called disorganized and confused. Instead, this has all the makings of a mass political movement that will, like the Tea Party, be one for the history books.

Some may claim the whole tactic of encampments is not only illegal, but ill advised. However, had the Occupy movement not actually occupied space for an extended period of time, would this movement’s activities remained and even dominated the corporate, mainstream media’s attention?  I don’t think so.

While many people may disagree with some of the Occupy movement’s tactics, and even like to call them every dirty name in the book, they can’t argue the Occupy movement has ineffective. In fact, for the last two months, nearly every day some major news events happens in the encampments and all the media is abuzz. Keep this up, as they plan to do, and the Koch brothers funded Tea Party could end up looking like political child’s play by a group of aging, senile has-beens.