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ORIGINAL RESEARCHBill Berkowitz Spurned by Washington Republicans, Frank Luntz turns to CanadaFrom Canada to Great Britain, from Iowa to the nation's capital, Frank Luntz is racking up the frequent flyer miles these days. Luntz, the Republican pollster/consultant and message massager, appears to be at his best when he's darting from one place to another dispensing advice and offering up fanciful political frames. Recently, after an apparently fruitful meeting with But Canada was only one stop for the Luntzmobile. In recent weeks, the Toronto Star reported, Luntz weighed in with his "analysis of British Conservative Leader David Cameron's electoral chances, [given] his take on whether New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg could run as an independent for president ... and has tested the appeal of Democrat presidential hopefuls Joe Biden and John Edwards in New Hampshire and Iowa." In addition, the New York Daily News reported, in a "private" meeting with 20 Republican state senators from New York, Luntz told them "to spurn any offers of campaign help made by [Gov. George] Pataki, according to people who attended the Albany gathering last week. ‘He told us if the governor offers help, just tell him you are going to be out of town or on vacation,' said one source." Cavorting in CanadaAfter meeting in Canada with Stephen Harper, Luntz pointed out that "The Canadian and U.S. leaders could not be more different. Stephen Harper is a genuine intellectual, brilliant in his understanding of issues." Luntz, perhaps suspecting that he'd said too much, added: "I think I'll leave it at that." Luntz then spoke to the Civitas Society, an influential Conservative group whose members include Harper's chief of staff Ian Brodie and his former campaign manager Tom Flanagan. "Luntz's links with the Canadian right go back to the days of the Preston Manning-led Reform party, but he characterized himself yesterday as a ‘casual observer' of Canadian politics," the Toronto Star reported. "One thing he does know, Luntz said, is the previous Liberal government was corrupt and Harper should be blunt and open about repeatedly reminding Canadian voters of that. He said North American voters are sick of political scandals, and urged the Canadian government to avoid the American experience by finding out how the Liberals got to where they were and make sure it never happens again," the newspaper pointed out. "'Canadians shouldn't have to go through what Americans are going through,'" Luntz said. "The U.S. system is rife with corruption, or perceived to be rife with corruption, and Canadians have an absolute right to know what previous governments did with their hard-earned money," he added. According to a report posted at Canada.com, New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton expressed concern that Harper had met with Luntz: "I think if Mr. Harper was listening to Canadians instead of American right-wing pollsters, he would be taking very different positions on issues. "He would be trying to do something to achieve the Kyoto (accord) objectives instead of just saying we can't do it. He would be taking immediate leadership on issues like Darfur. He would be moving on issues like child care and all the other things that Canadians have spoken about. But I guess if he's going to take his advice from an American pollster, we can't exactly expect that he's going to follow the recommendations of Canadian public opinion." "Why is the prime minister taking direction from Republican pollsters?" Liberal MP Mark Holland asked during question period after the meeting. "Why are they more important to him than the elected premier of the province of Ontario?" In mid-May, in what appears to be a mini "mission accomplished" moment, CTV.ca reported that Canadian environmentalists charged that "the Conservatives' communication strategy on climate change almost exactly echoe[d] advice in a three-year-old briefing book" written by Luntz. In his 2003 memo, Luntz advised against using "economic arguments against environmental regulations, because environmental arguments would always win out with average Americans concerned about their health." According to CTV.ca, "Since the Conservatives took office, they have consistently stressed their commitment to clean air and water, and tried to avoid discussion of cutting back environmental programs – although many have been eliminated." Not a Boehner buddyDespite not being one of new House Majority Leader John Boehner's favorite people, Luntz showed up in Washington recently to dispense advice to Republican lawmakers and their staffs, Tom Chapman recently reported. According to Chapman, the Director of the Center for Media and Public Policy at the Heritage Foundation and the host of Townhall.com's Capitol Report, while Luntz's message wasn't particularly startling, it was straightforward: "It's crunch time for Republicans," Luntz said. "You are going to have to be radical," Luntz told one group. When John Boehner (R-Ohio) was installed as House Majority Leader in February, Luntz took a powder ... sort of. According to Roll Call, Luntz, who has had disagreements with Boehner, sent an e-mail to the staff of his Alexandria, VA-based Luntz Research Companies, with the subject line "Where We Stand." The e-mail, sent after Luntz was excluded from a GOP House retreat, began: "By now, you are all probably aware that House Republicans have a new Majority Leader and he is not a fan of myself or my work. That's just the way it is." Claiming that Boehner has "not always been an effective communicator" Luntz continued, "We have a long history that has not been pleasant. ... For 10 years, even though he was Conference Chair and a Committee Chair, I have actually had the upper hand. But now that he's in charge, I guess it's payback time." "I reached out to about 40 Members over the past two days. Of those that got the message, over 30 called me back, and every one of them was supportive. Think about that for a moment. ... We have more fans in Congress than any ‘outsider,'" he said in the e-mail, He also pointed out that he had been invited to speak to an upcoming GOP Conference. Luntz's e-mail ended with: "I am not happy at all about the situation, but this is what politics is all about. When [former Senate Majority Leader Trent] Lott [R-Miss.] lost his job, so did dozens of people. But after a few months, we found a way to integrate ourselves with [Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.)], and I will find some way to work through this challenge. Those of you who like the Congressional work will still be able to hone your skills. We just won't have the immediately [sic] impact we once had. We'll have to work a little harder and be a little smarter.” "This is a good lesson. I just wish I didn't have to learn it now." Luntz has clearly landed on his feet, however, and has even branched out a bit. According to the Nation's Ari Berman, "Luntz recently showed a focus group of Democratic primary voters in Iowa and New Hampshire footage of [Massachusetts Senator John] Kerry over the past few months. ‘Where the hell was this John Kerry?' Luntz says the voters asked him. ‘Why didn't he have this passion, this specificity, when we needed him to?' If Kerry had run in 2004 using his 2006 language, Luntz argues, he might be President now." The frameisterOver the years, Luntz's contributions to framing the political debate make for a healthy Greatest Hits package: Before the 1994 Republican "Revolution," he helped Newt Gingrich craft the GOP's "Contract with America"; in 1997, he distributed a report entitled "The Language of the 21st Century," which he maintained was his "most serious effort to put together an effective, comprehensive national communications strategy"; during MonicaGate he encouraged Republicans to exploit Bill Clinton's sexual dalliances; in 2002, Luntz wrote an extensive memo advising the GOP to soften their linguistic approach to discussing environmental issues; and a June 2004 memo entitled "Communicating the Principles of Prevention & Protection in the War on Terror" offered Republicans the sound-bites for connecting the war on terror to the war on Iraq. Luntz has earned the reputation of a man who not only reads the political tea leaves, but transforms that reading into a winning message. "Frank Luntz is the Republican Party's undisputed master of right-wing propaganda, conservative spin-meistering, political-deception, diversion, redirection and focusing the imagination of an unsuspecting audience in ways that bring about specific outcomes or foster public support for anti-environmental, anti-democratic or pro-business positions," Scott Silver, the executive director of the Bend, Oregon-based environmental group, Wild Wilderness, explained in a recent email. While providing winning advice to the GOP, Luntz may also succeed in further diluting the already paper-thin democratic discourse. "Luntz combined the most effective techniques of Madison Avenue with the most effective tools of the psychoanalyst's couch and figured out how to apply them for the purpose of political persuasion," Silver told Media Transparency in an email. "He elevated to a science the persuasive art of the naturally gifted politician. Through the nearly universal adoption and application of Luntz's new science, all of political discourse has become less honest, less open, less productive and more divisive." With Bush's poll numbers continuing to tank, Luntz recently pointed out that it was "absolutely possible for the Democrats to take one or both [houses this fall]. I was involved in 1994. It feels like a 1994-style election. Voters will come to the ballots for candidates they do not even know [to get the incumbent out]." sign in, or register to email stories or comment on them.
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MORE ORIGINAL RESEARCHBill Berkowitz PERC receives Templeton Freedom Award for promoting 'enviropreneurs'Right Wing foundation-funded anti-environmental think tank grabbing a wider audience for 'free market environmentalism' On the 15th anniversary of Terry Anderson and Donald Leal's book "Free Market Environmentalism" -- the seminal book on the subject -- Anderson, the Executive Director of the Bozeman, Montana-based Property and Environment Research Center (PERC - formerly known as the Political Economy Research Center) spoke in late-January at an event sponsored by Squaw Valley Institute at the Resort at Squaw Creek in California. While it may have been just another opportunity to speak on "free market environmentalism" and not the kickoff of a "victory tour," nevertheless it comes at a time when PERC's ideas are taking root.
Bill Berkowitz Neil Bush of Saudi ArabiaDuring recent visit, President’s brother describes the country as a 'kind of tribal democracy' In late February, only a few days after Saudi Arabia beheaded four Sri Lankan robbers and then left their headless bodies on public display in the capital of Riyadh, Neil Bush, for the fourth time in the past six years, showed up for the country's Jeddah Economic Forum. The Guardian reported that Human Rights Watch "said the four men had no lawyers during their trial and sentencing, and were denied other basic legal rights." In an interview with Arab News, the Saudi English language paper, Bush described the country as "a kind of tribal democracy."
Bill Berkowitz Newt Gingrich's back door to the White HouseAmerican Enterprise Institute "Scholar" and former House Speaker blames media for poll showing 64 percent of the American people wouldn't vote for him under any circumstances Whatever it is that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has come to represent in American politics, the guy is nothing less than fascinating. One day he's espousing populist rhetoric about the need to cut the costs of college tuition and the next day he's talking World War III. One day he's claiming that the "war on terror" may force the abridgement of fundamental first amendment rights and the next he's advancing a twenty-first century version of his Contract with America. At the same time he's publicly proclaiming how "stupid" it is that the race for the presidency has already started you know that he's trying to figure out how to out finesse Rudy, McCain and Romney for the nomination. And last week, when Fox News' Chris Wallace cited a poll showing that 64 percent of the public would never vote for him, he was quick to blame those results on how unfairly he was treated by the mainstream media back in the day.
Bill Berkowitz American Enterprise Institute takes lead in agitating against IranDespite wrongheaded predictions about the war on Iraq, neocons are on the frontlines advocating military conflict with Iran After doing such a bang up job with their advice and predictions about the outcome of the war on Iraq, would it surprise you to learn that America's neoconservatives are still in business? While at this time we are not yet seeing the same intense neocon invasion of our living rooms -- via cable television's news networks -- that we saw during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, nevertheless, a host of policy analysts at conservative think tanks -- most notably the American Enterprise Institute -- are being heeded on Iran by those who count - folks inside the Bush Administration.
Bill Berkowitz After six years, opposition gaining on George W. Bush's Faith Based InitiativeUnmentioned in the president's State of the Union speech, the program nevertheless continues to recruit religious participants and hand out taxpayer money to religious groups With several domestic policy proposals unceremoniously folded into President Bush's recent State of the Union address, two pretty significant items failed to make the cut. Despite the president's egregiously tardy response to the event itself, it was nevertheless surprising that he didn't even mention Hurricane Katrina: He didn't offer up a progress report, words of hope to the victims, or come up with a proposal for moving the sluggish rebuilding effort forward. There were no "armies of compassion" ready to be unleashed, although it should be said that many in the religious community responded to the disaster much quicker than the Bush Administration. In the State of the Union address, however, there was no "compassionate conservatism" for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Bill Berkowitz Frank Luntz calls Republican leadership in Washington 'One giant whining windbag'On the outs with the GOP, legendary degrader of discourse is moving to California He doesn't make great art; nothing he does elevates the human spirit; he doesn't illuminate, he bamboozles. He has become expert in subterfuge, hidden meanings, word play and manipulation. Frank Luntz has been so good at what he does that those paying close attention gave it its own name: "Luntzspeak."
Bill Berkowitz Spooked by MoveOn.org, conservative movement seeks to emulate liberal powerhouseFueled with Silicon Valley money, TheVanguard.org will have Richard Poe, former editor of David Horowitz's FrontPage magazine as its editorial and creative director As Paul Weyrich, a founding father of the modern conservative movement and still a prominent actor in it, likes to say, he learned a great deal about movement building by closely observing what liberals were up to in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Bill Berkowitz Ward Connerly's anti-affirmative action jihadFounder and Chair of the American Civil Rights Institute scouting five to nine states for new anti-affirmative action initiatives Fresh from his most recent victory -- in Michigan this past November -- Ward Connerly, the Black California-based maven of anti-affirmative action initiatives, appears to be preparing to take his jihad on the road. According to a mid-December report in the San Francisco Chronicle, Connerly said that he was "exploring moves into nine other states."
Bill Berkowitz Tom Tancredo's missionThe Republican congressman from Colorado will try to woo GOP voters with anti-immigration rhetoric and a boatload of Christian right politics These days, probably the most recognizable name in anti-immigration politics is Colorado Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo. Over the past year, Tancredo has gone from a little known congressman to a highly visible anti-immigration spokesperson. "Tancredo has thoroughly enmeshed himself in the anti-immigration movement and with the help of CNN talk show host Lou Dobbs, he has been given a national megaphone," Devin Burghart, the program director of the Building Democracy Initiative at the Center for New Community, a Chicago-based civil rights group, told Media Transparency.
Bill Berkowitz Institute on Religion and Democracy slams 'Leftist' National Council of ChurchesNew report from conservative foundation-funded IRD charges the NCC with being a political surrogate for MoveOn.org, People for the American Way and other liberal organizations If you prefer your religious battles sprinkled with demagoguery, sanctimoniousness, and simplistic attacks, the Institute on Religion and Democracy's (IRD) latest broadside against the National Council of Churches (NCC) certainly fits the bill.
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