Weekly Shredder 32:
The Frank Luntz GOP Playbook
by James Norton

Deceptive labels are a bipartisan tradition as old as politics itself, but when have they ever come in such thick, well-organized stacks?

Much like the Social Security playbook, a new tome by political consultant Frank Luntz is hellbent on changing America with crafty wording.

Unlike the Social Security project, however, the Luntz project is written by someone smart. So oily that you'll want to scour your hands with Lava soap after touching it, the Luntz playbook is an seamless combination of practical "messaging" techniques for the right-wing spear-carrier, cheerleading for the faint of heart (or inconveniently strong of conscience) and self-congratulatory chest thumping.

For archives, audio, and background about the column, click here.

In his introduction, Luntz recaps the 2004 election. He hails the Swift Boat ad campaign for having damaged John Kerry's credibility. His only regret about the ads, which smeared a decorated vet with a foul pastiche of lies and exaggerations?

True, the Swift Boat veterans never fully convinced voters that Kerry "betrayed" his country in wartime, but they did raise nagging and unresolved doubts about Kerry's character and judgment at the very moment that voters had begun to make up their minds.

Just a few paragraphs later, Luntz boils down the lesson of the 2004 election: "In the end, hope won."

Hope. Yeah. "Hope."

If you want to wade through the Luntz briefing book's 160 pages of nuggets, you'd better be ready for many similar jarring disconnects between reality and rhetoric. In the spirit of totalitarian leaders both fictional and historic, Luntz is big on naming things creatively. Don't call it "killing all the moderates and intellectuals," call it "the Cultural Revolution." Don't call it "a Communist police state," call it a "Democratic Republic." Don't call it "a Bush government invitation to pollute," call it "Clear Skies." Don't call the sum of 2 plus 2 "4," call it "5."

Over the course of the book, he looks at tax relief and simplification (not "reform" — Americans worry that "reform" might raise their taxes), Social Security, and tort reform. Oops, "lawsuit abuse reform" — hard to keep all these new labels straight.

Each chapter is packed with practical tips for GOP communicators, and slathered with a thick, heady paste of unintentional irony. One example: in his chapter entitled "Setting the Chapter and Tone," which describes the best ways to manipulate rhetoric and reality to sell people on the Republican agenda and steamroll the opposition, Luntz writes:

Make the GOP the party of BIPARTISANSHIP. If Americans love anything, it's bipartisanship. Anything described as "bipartisan" is an automatic winner with the American public, and any candidate who can effectively portray themselves as "bipartisan" with automatically have an advantage. Call the Democrats out on their partisanship and obstructionism.

So, according to Luntz, the best way to make the GOP the party of bipartisanship is... attacking the Democrats.

Hmm.

The most interesting part of the playbook — the pernicious cherry floating in this cocktail of evil — is his appendix entitled "14 Phrases Never to Use."

They include:

"Government" — The fact is, most Americans appreciate their local government that picks up their trash, cleans their streets, and provides police and transportation services. Washington is the problem.

"Privatization/Private Accounts" — Many more Americans would "personalize" Social Security than "privatize" it.

"Outsourcing" — We should talk about the "root cause" why any company would not want to hire "the best workers in the world." And the answer: "over-taxation, over-regulation, too much litigation, and not enough innovation or quality education." Because it rhymes, it will be remembered.

"Drilling for oil" — Instead say "exploring for energy." When you talk about energy, use words like "responsible" and "balanced" and always address your concern for the environment.

One might reasonably ask why these phrases are never to be used. The obvious answer is that they've been deemed ineffective at persuading voters. The less obvious, supplemental answer is that they've been deemed ineffective because they're too clear and accurate.

Luntz, a professional, detests amateur political shenanigans. Although his party is attempting to sabotage Social Security, he would never do what that group of Young Republicans in Pennsylvania did: chant "Hey hey ho ho, Social Security has got to go." If he'd organized the chant, it would have been "Hey hey ho ho, 'personalization' is the way to go!"

And it would have been a much less honest chant.

The problem with Luntz is the problem with the GOP as a whole: So consumed with maintaining and enhancing political power, Luntz has lost any and all interest in measuring and accurately describing reality. The party's process has shifted from "take data, form ideologically acceptable policy response, sell policy to public with facts and effective rhetoric" to "come up with ideologically rooted policy, find any facts that confirm it, discredit or bury the facts that discredit the policy, sell it to the public with a confection of friendly facts, lies, distortions and careful omission."

In doing so, the GOP coins one inaccurate label after another, throwing each one in turn onto the fat and ever fattening stack of bad labels that they bang out like prisoners making license plates.

Don't call it "redistributing wealth to the wealthy," call it "tax relief."

Don't call it an "unprovoked war," call it "enforcing a UN resolution."

Don't call it "shipping suspects abroad to be tortured," call it "extraordinary rendition."

Don't call it "making it easier for corporations to pollute," call it "Clear Skies."

It's time to start marking a new stack of labels that describe reality. This might serve as label No. 1:

Don't call it "Republican rhetoric," call it "bullshit."

E-mail James Norton at jim@flakmag.com.

— graphic by Derek Evernden (derek@ocellus.net)