How Politicians see us

Frank Lutz' work as a Republican pollster is profiled in todays Wall Street Journal. He has written a book called Words that Work, i.e. words that have been tested to get a buzz from the hearer (notice it is not the idea that is tested, merely the words). His thesis is that it is not what is said, but how it is said that is important in politics. As the author of the profile says,

Mr. Luntz describes the American people, on the whole, as ill-read, provincial, sullen and frightened. They are, he says, susceptible to mere rhetoric and responsive to arguably bogus appeals to values, no matter what the facts. True, his analysis of the 2006 election doesn't fit this portrait: He sees former GOP voters as all too well informed about the performance of the last Congress and not liking it. Still, Mr. Luntz's own public statements--and many passages in "Words That Work"--suggest that often, for him, communication is really just a form of manipulation.

Of course, the Demos now think this is the clever way to go and are busy imitating Lutz and his ilk. Welcome to the wonderful world of politics in the 21rst Century.