Our Failed Political Press ™ (Part Infinity)
“Longtime Republican pollster Frank Luntz and his friend and short-term roommate Kevin McCarthy — who is now House minority leader — have been repeatedly targeted in recent weeks by Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who has claimed that Luntz’s famous “focus groups” almost amount to “fraud.” As it turns out, Carlson may have a point…
On Oct. 15, 2018, a few weeks ahead of the crucial 2018 midterms VICE News tweeted, “Tonight on #VICENewsTonight. Frank Luntz heads to Texas to talk to voters ahead of the midterm elections. See it on HBO at 7:30 PM EDT.” And indeed that night HBO aired a VICE News focus group orchestrated by Luntz, which had been filmed three days earlier in Dallas…
“On Oct. 23, a week after the show aired, Ted Cruz for Senate paid Luntz’s company FIL, Inc. $51,129.87 for “survey research/travel.” Despite the purported balance on Luntz’s panel, only five of the 16 voters he selected voiced support for O’Rourke that night. That looked like something of a PR victory for Cruz at a moment when polls predicted an extremely tight race. Cruz went on to win re-election. It remains unclear whether VICE News or HBO were aware that Luntz had a blatant conflict of interest, working for Cruz while purporting to host an impartial focus group.”
Grifter Frank Luntz’ business consists of telling Republicans what they want to hear. The embarrassment here is not to Luntz (who learned at the knee of Newticles Gingrich —pushing aside Callista, no doubt— how to frame issues, like rebranding the estate tax as The Death Tax so everyone in Possum Hollar is convinced that it applies to themselves), no, the embarrassment here is to the media that keeps giving him a seat at the table.
Seriously, what does it take to get the media to stop trusting Republicans? Republicans will lie and defraud the media and the public every time, and yet we will never, ever see a bonafide liberal have a seat at the table. Our Failed Political Press ™ would rather be lied to and con’ed by Frank Luntz than admit that they’ve been wrong since at least the Saint Ronnie era.
Republished with permission from Mock Paper Scissors
