Frank Luntz: It Doesn’t Matter What Obama’s Health Care Plan Says, We’ll Still Call It ‘Government Takeover’
Frank Luntz: It Doesn’t Matter What Obama’s Health Care Plan Says, We’ll Still Call It ‘Government Takeover’
In an interview with the New York Times, GOP wordsmith Frank Luntz — who recently penned a health care messaging memo instructing Republicans to attack President Obama’s health reform efforts by criticizing the deficiencies in foreign health care systems — concedes that Republicans will label Obama’s reform effort a “government takeover” of health care, regardless of the actual proposal:
Is it a correct description of the president’s plans for reform?
We don’t know what he is proposing. We want to avoid “a Washington takeover.”But that’s not at issue. What the Democrats want is for everyone to be able to choose between their old, private health-insurance plan and an all-new, public health-insurance option.
I’m not a policy person. I’m a language person.
Indeed, “rather than challenging the tenets of American reform proposals, Luntz establishes a straw man argument against a non-existent health plan.” As Democratic strategist Paul Begala observes in a recent retort to the Luntz memo, “Because they know they cannot win the argument honestly, Republicans are resorting to mendacity.”
6 Responses to “Frank Luntz: It Doesn’t Matter What Obama’s Health Care Plan Says, We’ll Still Call It ‘Government Takeover’”
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Frank Luntz–”Ignorance is bliss”
Forrest Gump (also a language person)–”Stupid is as stupid does”
May 26th, 2009 at 6:37 pmTake 2: Lets clear something up quick. A poet or novelist is a wordsmith. Luntz is a propagandist pure and simple. Lets not demean poets and novelists by putting Luntz’ manipulation of language to create fear (amongst other negative emotions) as some kind of artful crafting of prose, verse, or rhyme by honoring him with the title of “wordsmith”. Consider partisan hack though. It’s certainly more accurate. Please.
May 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am“For-profit is as for-profit does”
http://stateofthedivision.blogspot.com/2009/05/for-profit-health-care-reform-club.html
May 27th, 2009 at 10:02 amSome people practice their trade badly. That includes wordsmith’s. The political kind are also base and venal.
May 27th, 2009 at 10:03 amstateofthedivision: I have no give on not using wordsmith on luntz. People who get called wordsmith practive their trade well and deserve the title. If they didn’t they would be called wordsmiths. I would agree to calling Luntz word weasel or weaselworder. He’s a propagandist pure simple why not call him what he is. He uses fear, lies, etc to get people to act out of fear and preys on their worst sides. Thats a wordweasel.
May 28th, 2009 at 2:22 amgoods idea
May 29th, 2009 at 5:28 pm