WASN’T LUNTZ SUPPOSED TO GO AWAY?…. We talked over the weekend about Republican pollster Frank Luntz, and his 28-page memo, “The Language of Health Care,” written to help Republican lawmakers undermine health care reform efforts. In an interview with the New York Times, Luntz was asked some of his more misleading policy claims. “I’m not a policy person,” Luntz replied. “I’m a language person.”
And while it’s obviously unsatisfying to hear Luntz argue, in effect, that he can do his job without knowing what he’s talking about, Jay Rosen reminded me of another important angle: didn’t Frank Luntz promise to move to Hollywood and stop bothering us with deceptive rhetorical strategies? This report ran exactly one month ago today.
One of politics’ unlikeliest figures has come to Hollywood, looking to change his stripes.
Frank Luntz, the arch-conservative pollster known as the research hammer by which the Gingrich revolution came down hard on President Bill Clinton, wants to take over research for the entertainment industry. […]
[T]he pollster and Fox News analyst is serious about making his play. He’s bought a home in Santa Monica and is already doing survey work for Universal’s marketing chief Adam Fogelson and speaking to producers about other projects.
Asked why he would give up a lucrative career in political manipulation, Luntz said, “I’m tired of selling reality. Reality sucks. It’s mean. Divisive. Negative. What Hollywood offers is a chance to create a new reality, in two hours time.” He added, “I don’t like what politics has become…. I don’t want to create a 30-second spot that makes people feel like s—.”
A few weeks later, Luntz, hired by a client he refuses to identify, released an extensive strategy memo, encouraging Republicans to kill the best chance Americans have had at health care reform in decades, relying on little more than fear and deception.
Any chance Luntz can be encouraged to go back to Hollywood and leave the political world alone?
What’s more, I’d be remiss if I passed up the easy joke here. Luntz is “tired of selling reality.” Frank, I’ve read your “Language of Health Care” memo — and you’re still not selling reality.
