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It's time for Frank Luntz to come clean

May 20, 2009 2:45 pm ET by Karl Frisch

You may recall GOP pollster Frank Luntz's recently released a 28-page memo, "The Language of Healthcare 2009: The 10 Rules for Stopping the 'Washington Takeover' of Healthcare," which is intended to help conservatives defeat President Obama and congressional Democrats' health-care reform initiatives.  As we've noted over the past two weeks, Fox News has provided a forum for the Luntz talking points while Politico hyped his memo and downplayed a progressive pollster’s pro-health care reform memo.

Well, now it seems Luntz doesn't want anyone asking who paid for his "10 rules" memo.  Via Huffington Post's Sam Stein:

Conservative communications guru Frank Luntz has written the playbook for GOP opposition to the Obama administration's health care proposal. His plan, which is heavy on framing the president's proposal as a government "takeover," is already popping up in statements from top congressional Republicans and on Fox News, despite the fact that no Democratic legislation has been proposed.

But when it comes to discussing who funded his messaging, the wordsmith Luntz is notably devoid of words. Asked about his funder in an interview with the New York Times Magazine to be published on Sunday, Luntz was close-lipped:

Q Who paid you to write the health care memo?

A It's not relevant.

Q A pharmaceutical company?

A No pharmaceutical company was involved.

Riiiiiiight, it's not relevant who paid for the memo – a memo with talking points now being parroted by Fox News and other conservative media outlets and figures.  I know it may be a bit of a stretch to expect Luntz to understand that this is an issue about his credibility as a pollster – if he has any left – but it's the right thing to do.

Come on Frank, answer the question.

Tags: Fox News Channel, Frank Luntz, Huffington Post

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    • Author by annagranfors (May 20, 2009 4:06 pm ET)
         
      We should all remember, too, that Frank Luntz is also working a side job trying to develop Hollywood projects. (I know, it's hard to make any direct connection between that and healthcare, but when your nightly TV shows from the big studios start to advance a conservative meme just a little harder, remember that Frankie's out there doing script approval and the like. Wingnuts have HATED Hollywood for years and, much as they realized that the big corporations owned the news, both TV and print, and that they could slide THOSE Overton Windows to fit the program, I'm betting they'll be trying the same with Hollywood more and more.)
      Report Abuse
    • Author by pete592 (May 20, 2009 4:19 pm ET)
         
      Pretty tough to clean up when you're that dirty.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by wndsong (May 21, 2009 7:49 am ET)
           
        "Pretty tough to clean up when you're that dirty". That is a huge presumption isn't it? It is a horrid thing to just accuse people of things like that without any solid evidence that the accusation is based on real facts. That sir, is dirty!
        Report Abuse
    • Author by wesley (May 20, 2009 4:51 pm ET)
         
      -- Riiiiiiight, it's not relevant who paid for the memo – a memo with talking points -- Foser

      Oh so pious...and always looking in the shadows. We can't trust a poll because of who funded it...We can't trust a scientific report because of who funded it.

      There's an old poker adage that says "the first one to yell I've been cheated...is usually the biggest cheat in the game".

      Since mmfa has set the ground rules on the importance of funding...how 'bout it...who's funding mmfa?
      Report Abuse
      • Author by pete592 (May 20, 2009 7:32 pm ET)
           
        Does knowing who funded a poll not help you determine your own level of trust in a poll's data?
        Report Abuse
      • Author by mk3872 (May 20, 2009 8:10 pm ET)
           
        Of course, Wesley ... when you cannot defend a subject or a person like Luntz then you just switch and attack the messenger. Nice work, you clown!
        Report Abuse
      • Author by princeofwheels (May 20, 2009 8:36 pm ET)
           
        Who's funding MMFA? Not Merck.

        Now your turn who's funding Luntz? We could do this all night but it is Luntz who won't answer. Why?
        Report Abuse
    • Author by overmars jr. (May 20, 2009 5:47 pm ET)
         
      There's an old poker adage that says "the first one to yell I've been cheated...is usually the biggest cheat in the game".


      Ah yes, the "he who smelt it, dealt it" defense. A very popular ditty with folks who want to turn the spotlight off their guy.

      Gee gosh golly, I wonder why...
      Report Abuse
    • Author by mk3872 (May 20, 2009 8:11 pm ET)
         
      Frank Luntz pretends to be a non-partisan pollster.

      But that just lessens his credibility even more by lying about his leadership role as head of the GOP message machine that rebrands everything from Climate Change to the Death Tax.
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