Ryan Grim
ryan@huffingtonpost.com | HuffPost Reporting
Dems' Bogeyman Luntz Schooled Reid, Other Dems On MessagingFirst Posted: 06-11-09 05:34 PM | Updated: 06-11-09 07:21 PM
The Senate Democratic leadership attacked GOP pollster Frank Luntz at its weekly press conference Thursday, mocking Republicans for taking their health care advice from the man Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) repeatedly dubbed "Dr. Frank I. Luntz."
"What we're hearing from the Republican leadership on the floor of the Senate is vaguely familiar. Dr. Frank I. Luntz issued this plan," said Durbin, waving a copy of a memo that Luntz wrote several months ago, outlining rhetorical tactics to oppose health care reform.
Durbin highlighted arguments made by Republican leadership: "They tell horror stories about health care stories in other countries. That would be Dr. Frank Luntz's talking point number five." And on he went, referring over and over to the talking points outlined in the Luntz memo.
Shortly after Luntz had released his memo, Democratic strategist Paul Begala responded with his own point-by-point counter-memo. "Because they know they cannot win the argument honestly, Republicans are resorting to mendacity," Begala wrote. "Democrats must not let them get away with it."
But the Senate Democrats already knew all they needed about such mendacious methods: Luntz himself had briefed them at a Democratic retreat earlier this year. His co-panelist: Paul Begala.
Since that January retreat, he has also briefed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) personally, a Reid aide confirmed. The message to the leader and to the Senate Democratic caucus was the same: Words matter.
"He didn't talk about health care in particular," said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), a member of Democratic leadership. "He talked about words, and words matter, and how important it is how you portray what it is you're doing. And obviously now he's advising Republicans what kind of language they can use to fight for the status quo."
The Luntz-Reid meeting was also about messaging. The majority leader and the Republican pollster had met several times over the previous several years, although only met once this year, other than the retreat, said a senior aide to Reid. Luntz didn't return several calls and e-mails.