Frank Luntz was on NPR today and spoke honestly about how he would advocate on behalf of NPR and the issue of tax payer funding.
http://www.npr.org/...
So simple. Target an audience and energize that audience with a simple and convincing message. As charity, Luntz framed the debate for Democrats as follows:
"We believe that whether you live in the most rural area of Georgia or the most urban area of New York City you should have the right to quality programming. And .. if not this, where? ... If not us, who? If we lose NPR, where are you going to get this kind of content?"
The article pointed out that the liberal on the program spoke about the benefits of publicly subsidized programming but also agreed legitimate debate could be had. Typical stuff. I mean I honestly think republicans feel sorry for democrats. It just kills them. They pull their hair out until they can't take it anymore and finally scream: "HERE! HERE! THIS IS HOW IT IS DONE! WHY ARE YOU SO STUPID?! DO YOU EVER WONDER WHY YOU CONSTANTLY LOSE ELECTIONS EVEN THOUGH 70% OF THE COUNTRY AGREES WITH YOU?"
And the fact is, no matter how much we despise Luntz for the clients he represents, he's just doing a job. He very appropriately has a clear and narrow focus. He's not worried about honesty or even the issues, after all that's the jobs of our elected leaders. He merely wants to help frame the debate. I'll never forget leading up to the 2010 election, Tim Kaine called a major press conference announcing a major messaging presentation. We held our breath and voila, a new logo was introduced. Come to think of it what was the message of 2010? Could we have come up with something? Maybe, If not health care reform, then what? If not debt reduction(through health reform), then what? If not putting Americans back to work(through the stimulus), then what?
I wish we had someone like Luntz on our side.