Frank Luntz was a lot more than a message guru. Luntz and his focus groups singlehandedly kept the GOP on the right side of elections, public opinion and the International Criminal Court by coming up with ways to not just get the American people to tolerate war, torture and corporate oligarchy but to cherish these things like they were written into the Constitution by Jesus himself. A few weeks ago Luntz quit his lucrative job well short of what most consider a normal retirement age. Why? Glad you asked (emphasis mine).
Luntz knew that he, a maker of political messages and attacks and advertisements, had helped create this negativity, and it haunted him. But it was Obama he principally blamed. The people in his focus groups, he perceived, had absorbed the president’s message of class divisions, haves and have-nots, of redistribution. It was a message Luntz believed to be profoundly wrong, but one so powerful he had no slogans, no arguments with which to beat it back.
A few days ago Eric Cantor stood in front of his gathered Congressional caucus and tried his level best to explain – using simple words and pictures where needed – that the number of people who work for someone else adds up to a lot more than 47%.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Cantor’s presentation was that it included a recognition that in the past Republicans have focused more on the nation’s employers than employees, have talked about small business owners and entrepreneurs to the exclusion of the far greater number of Americans who don’t own their own businesses.
“Ninety percent of Americans work for someone else,” Cantor said, according to a source in the room. “Most of them not only will never own their own business, for most of them that isn’t their dream. Their dream is to have a good job, with an income that will allow them to support their family.”
“We shouldn’t miss the chance to talk to these people,” Cantor continued, according to the source, “which is why we will present and pass our plans to relieve the middle class squeeze.”
Without knowing exactly what followed I imagine Cantor explained to his caucus that they will not solve this issue with cuts to the top marginal tax rate, a flat tax, tort reform, deregulating the energy sector, regulating women’s private business, repealing Obamacare (he might have spent extra time on that one), mandatory gun ownership, repealing the seventeenth amendment (seriously, WTF guys?) or passing a ban on gay marriage, interracial marriage, flag burning, contraception, STD vaccines or climate science. Being a sensible man Cantor will not have ruled out making very concerned noises without ever supporting any actual plan. Frank Luntz would endorse that strategy if he still did that sort of thing. But Luntz quit, so expect a Romney-style hastily assembled hail mary plan with shortcomings that will prove obvious to your average third grader.
Whether anyone in Congress relishes sucking up to the powerful more than Eric Ivan Cantor, and I think that a jury who can weigh enough relevant evidence to make that call without tossing their cookies should be put on a no fly list, I can say that economic populism does not come easy to the guy. He will support policies which inconvenience those who can afford his marionette paddle if and only if said people have already decided that they face a lot worse without them. Someone out there is awfully scared of Elizabeth Warren.
Now, I don’t think that Cantor will pull this pirouette off. As with immigration he cannot propose anything that might pass the laugh test or the tea party will burn him at the stake. But it is a sign that maybe, just maybe, everybody on the other side of the Democrats’ next election thinks that income disparity is a potent message with no good counterargument.
So. Anyone feel like winning a Congressional election? You do not often find a winning strategy laid out so thoughtfully on a silver platter.
Villago Delenda Est
Tim, you stepped on TWIB.
Go stand in the corner.
Tim F.
@Villago Delenda Est: For fucks sake. There are like eighteen bloggers here. It takes about an hour to write a decent post. This stuff happens.
Villago Delenda Est
@Tim F.:
The post is great, interesting, informative, and a subject near and dear to my hear
However, just sayin’.
Violet
Is Luntz still depressed? The profile on him a few weeks ago was kind of fascinating. At some level he must know he’s facilitated evil.
Income inequality is an excellent message. It has the benefit of being true and something anyone under Medicare age, and even some of that age, can feel. I hope the Democrats take the fucking hint. However, since most of them are millionaires or more, I’m not confident.
feebog
Cantor’s middle name is Ivan? No wonder he is so evil.
p.a.
@Tim F.: just take a pet photo, fracture a finger, lose a condiment, and swear. Instapost!
Baud
Rebranding 2.0.
Corner Stone
@Villago Delenda Est: Did something weird happen? The time stamp I see is 1.5 hours after the TWIB commercial below.
rikyrah
22-year-old Tulane student wins seat in Mississippi Legislature
[….] Anderson, a Democrat, turned 22 when he was sworn in on Dec. 6, making him the youngest member of the state Legislature and an immediate stand-out in a profession known for valuing seniority and having wait-your-turn rules of operation. But Anderson, a native of Moss Point, Miss., didnât wait for permission to seek elected office and bested a field of five candidates in the race, including the current mayor of Moss Point who garnered backing from local Democratic leaders.[….]
âIn the beginning, I considered running for a local position when I
first started to look at getting into politics,â Anderson said. âBut
then, after having a conversation with my uncle, I started to look at
something a little higher in terms of state politics where so many
decisions are made that affect local issues.â Anderson said his interest in public service began in high school and stems from various community service endeavors that caused him to explore the impact of city and state laws.
âI started two nonprofit foundations that I am very proud of,â
Anderson said. âThe Purple Knights of America is a mentoring program for young men ages 11 to 18 and the Real South United Soccer Club provides exercise, athletic opportunities and camaraderie for folks in our area.â[….] Anderson is filling the unexpired term of a representative who vacated his seat in the state Legislature and is up for reelection in 2015.[….]
http://www.louisianaweekly.com/22-year-old-tulane-student-wins-seat-in-mississippi-legislature/
Comrade Jake
I’m sure Cantor’s not a complete idiot, but whenever he speaks I have doubts.
raven
So it’s bad for Tim to. . .oh nevermind.
Hill Dweller
The wingnuts’ messaging will be irrelevant. The extra food stamp funding from the stimulus expired late last year; shutting down the government; cutting more food stamps in the farm bill; the Fed slowing QE; and refusing to extend unemployment benefits is causing a huge drag on the economy, and killing the economic momentum from 4th quarter of FY13.
The jobs report is likely to suck Friday. Coupled with the abysmal report last month, it’s going to look like a pattern. The wingnuts will spend the rest of the year attacking Dems on the economy and Obamacare. Because the Village refuses to call Republicans on their radical obstructionism and blatant sabotage, said attacks won’t look like hypocrisy.
Violet
@Corner Stone: I see the same timestamps.
Mike in NC
It used to just be enough for the right wingers to shriek about “Class Warfare” and 9 times out of 10 that would work. Maybe that time has passed?
Violet
@Hill Dweller: Apparently the stock market dropped over 300 points today too. I haven’t been paying attention, but I think I’ve heard the market has been dropping this year. Is that right?
Villago Delenda Est
@Corner Stone:
In real time, TWIB showed up, and only a few minutes later Tim F did.
I don’t know how one would go about fixing this, but I personally don’t like anyone bigfooting anybody, because every BJFP has something interesting to say that deserves its own time in the sun.
Even Cole’s lost mustard/car in a field posts.
Hill Dweller
@Violet: Today’s drop was due to weak manufacturing numbers. January was an awful month on Wall Street, but that was mostly due to weak growth in emerging markets and China.
Anoniminous
Assuming Democrats want to win elections,* the RayGuns Devolution has to be reversed. A Populist message of economic flattening through taxation of the 1% and corporations, Public Works, judicious enaction of tariffs, and a program of free higher education – retroactive to 1990, say – would do wonders to put America back to work. (Losing about $300 billion from the military budget would also help.) The system we have sucks. Anyone with an ounce of sense knows it sucks. It’s not a hard sell.
* Sometimes I have my doubts
Litlebritdiftrnt
Cantor has to realize that the torches and pitch forks are not far away, people are pissed off, severely so. There was a story in the Times today about Sears and JC Penny going under because Middle Class people don’t have any money to spend, the only people who are spending money are the 1% and the majority of US corporations making stuff can’t survive on the 1% buying $20K watches. The majority of US corporations need middle class families to buy $700 fridges to survive. But it isn’t happening. Because if a fridge breaks in a middle class family they just figure out an alternative. The chickens are seriously coming home to roost. See also Wal Mart bitching about the cut in food stamps because the majority of their customers rely on food stamps.
WaterGirl
There were hardly any active threads open; I don’t see the problem with two new threads at about the same time.
Edit: time stamps show these threads are about 90 minutes apart. I don’t get it.
NotMax
Eventually it must dawn on even the thickest that regardless of the time and diligence expended in gilding a turd, it remains a turd.
Villago Delenda Est
OT from Noisemax:
O’Reilly: Obama Interview Part 2 Will ‘Break News’
Then why the hell didn’t he include that when he was showcased on Faux Broadcast during the Super Bowl pregame, huh?
I mean, you want to break news to the widest possible audience to showcase your “journalistic” chops, don’t you?
The wingtards are stupid enough to take the bait, too.
Villago Delenda Est
@Litlebritdiftrnt:
Some obscure small businessman named Henry Ford figured this out a century ago.
But then again, he didn’t have a team of MBAs advising him, so that explains that.
Schlemizel
I remain unconvinced that the morans who fell for Luntz BS initially are going to give it up so easily. If the 00s taught them nothing (and there is very strong evidence it didn’t) I see no reason for them to suddenly learn they are being anally violated by the goopers still.
I hope its true but I have given up hope. I will be out there thumping the tub for good Dems but that is more in anger than in hope. I’ll believe it when I see it
Josie
@Villago Delenda Est: It is possible to follow two or more threads at once if one so wishes or even to prefer to follow one instead of another. In a forum with multiple front pagers, it is almost impossible to time posts perfectly. I would much rather they feel free to post as a topic is timely and interesting, and then I can make the decision to read whatever floats my boat.
Litlebritdiftrnt
@Litlebritdiftrnt:
Which reminds me, I went to my local “Nicks and Dents” food store today which promises 50% off local grocery store prices. It was obviously EBT day, because the place was packed. If anyone has any doubts about how people with food stamps make ends meet you should just check out the parking lot of this food store today.
Anoniminous
@Schlemizel:
From the Democratic Strategist article:
People are ready for a change. The “ready” has to packaged in advertising, Platform, and Policy. And then Democrats have to run on the Platform.
Villago Delenda Est
@Josie:
Your point is well taken, although I have noticed that attention spans can be short around here. I often track several threads during the course of a session, but some seem to gravitate to the latest offering and neglect others.
YMMV.
karen marie
Republicans are working on the problem of employers cutting workers’ hours to avoid providing health insurance. They’re crafting legislation so that under the ACA only those working 40 hours are considered full time. Brilliant! Now you can work 39-1/2 hours and buy your own insurance.
J
@Josie: well said, Josie!
Baud
@Villago Delenda Est:
We need comments RSS back.
maximiliano furtive, formerly known as dr. bloor
@Violet:
Luntz is a sociopath with no recognizable conscience to speak of. He’s depressed because his special brand of sociopathic bullshit has run headlong into the truth.
jeffreyw
nevermore
Corner Stone
@Villago Delenda Est: You are the worst person in the world. Prepare the tumbrels for VDE!
dmsilev
@Villago Delenda Est: You’re reading it wrong. The news is broken. As in not functioning properly.
All Fox anchors are experts at making this happen.
Litlebritdiftrnt
@Villago Delenda Est: Exactly, I will never forget his mantra “I want each of my workers to be able to buy one of my cars”. Right now a worker in Wal Mart probably couldn’t afford to buy anything in Wal Mart, because their rent, power and water takes up their entire paycheck. There are no left overs for food or clothes.
WaterGirl
@Corner Stone: Laughing, because I was trying to figure out how to work “tumbrels” into a reply to VDE. :-)
Edit: heading off to watch Almost Human, one of the good new shows this year, IMO.
maximiliano furtive, formerly known as dr. bloor
@Villago Delenda Est: You do know that a new post doesn’t vaporize the posts before it, right?
dmsilev
@Corner Stone: So you’re saying Villago Delenda Est Delenda Est?
(somewhere, a Latin teacher just started sobbing for no apparent reason)
SiubhanDuinne
Apologies for the O/T, but “Joan of Art” (former Second Lady Joan Mondale) has died. Haven’t heard much about her for a number of years, but while her husband was Vice President, she was a passionate and vocal advocate for the arts. RIP.
JustRuss
Fixed that for ya
debbie
Horseshit on this “growing awareness” in the GOP. Cantor also just accused the president of poisoning the atmosphere in Washington.
dmsilev
@debbie: The GOP has been doing that since roughly a day after he had the temerity to beat John McCain. That’s background noise at this point.
Corner Stone
@JustRuss: Yep. Saw the blurb where Wal-Mart said the Farm Bill will hurt their bottom line.
I laughed and laughed and laughed.
I wonder which party they will blame for this?
Anoniminous
@JustRuss:
Waltons could raise their employee’s wages. Then they’d suffer a drop in income and it would be a struggle trying to make ends meet on a mere $100,000,000,000/year.
Corner Stone
@Anoniminous:
It might cause them to drop from wealth equal to 41.5% of the bottom Americans to 41.4%
lamh36
@Villago Delenda Est:
POTUS has officially joined Team NMFTG
SatanicPanic
@debbie: Oh so NOW the Republicans care about the atmosphere?
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
I miss seeing the constantly refreshed list of recent comments, but I seem to recall that that feature was responsible for a lot of site crashes, and during one of the periodic overhauls, John said flatly that it was gone and not coming back.
Then, I think he said something like “Suck it, haters.”
Splitting Image
@Litlebritdiftrnt:
While this is certainly true, Sears is also going bankrupt because it is run by a Randian douchebag who is even stupider than the garden-variety Randian douchebag.
Scotius
Would this be the same Eric Cantor who tweeted the following for Labor Day: “Today, we celebrate those who have taken a risk, worked hard, built a business and earned their own success.”?
He is now in charge of crafting a message that the GOP gives a flying fuck about workers? That should end well.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne:
Sigh. I blame Obama.
IowaOldLady
@Corner Stone: Do you think WalMart’s reaction surprised the Rs? Or maybe some of the loons didn’t see it. I’m not sure Louis Gohmert can read.
JPL
@lamh36: Mediate has the interview. Bill O’Reilly is a jerk. I wish the President had mentioned the minimum wage when Bill said I worked and went to school. Well school was less expensive and the minimum wage was higher, if you count inflation.
Mandalay
@Hill Dweller:
Those are certainly the rationalizations proffered.
But when you see almost all Chinese stocks – or tech stocks or finance or energy or biotech – are way up one day and way down the next day, or vice versa, and all the big changes happen over night when the little people don’t get in the way, you’d have to be an idiot to swallow that swill.
Anne Laurie
@Scotius: HA! Was just coming over to add that Professor Krugman made the same catch on his blog!
Scotius
@JPL:
I think a lot of people who came of age in the 60s and 70s have trouble getting their heads around the idea of how much more expensive school is today and how much harder it is to find work even with a college degree. I think this is the case even for people who aren’t assholes like Bill O’Reilly.
Hill Dweller
@Mandalay: There is a lot of money flowing into to “safe havens” and leaving emerging markets due to instability.
RaflW
@debbie:
They’ve thrown variants of that ‘accusation’ for years. Big whoop.
They got nuttin’ and the citizenry is noticing. Yelling “It’s that guy!” over and over doesn’t really work when you are the ones voting to slash UI, cut food stamps, save SSI by destroying it, etc.
We in the BJ community tend to view most voters as rubes, and while some surely are, eventually years of meanness towards workers coupled with sycophantic fawning at the rich does get noticed.
Commenting at Balloon Juice since 1937
A flag burning ammendment can get bipartisan support. Just ask Hillary.
Mandalay
@Violet:
You see timestamps, but Frank sees food stamps. Food stamps have made Frank what he is today.
Scotius
@Anne Laurie:
The Washington Monthly had a post today discussing how hard it will be for the GOP to hide their contempt for ordinary wage earners. This is something that is deeply baked in to the very DNA of the Republican Party and will require them to do some pretty serious contortions if they want to try to sell that. It reminds me of how in 1988 George H.W. Bush’s campaign slogan was “Stay the course” and how in 1992 he tried to sell himself as the “Candidate of Change”.
Keith G
The Democrats are often able to talk a good game. They get some stuff done, but they leave a lot not done. Worse, they leave some things not even tried.
Republicans won’t let the stupid have sway forever. With that in mind, it sure would help if the leadership of the Democrats would work on improving their brand. Time for them to reemphasize that there are affirmative reasons to believe in the Democratic Party.
Mandalay
@Hill Dweller:
That may well be so, but that hardly explains why the markets have tanked so severely in just the past three weeks. The “stability” problems in China, Argentina, Turkey, Thailand et al have hardly sprung up overnight. They’ve been common knowledge for months (and years in the case of Argentina).
pseudonymous in nc
@Scotius: I’m glad you pointed that out, because I was going to.
The GOP gobshite machine has turned the rank and file against the concept of “working hard at a job for decent wages and some manner of security” because that’s apparently against the precepts of the Holy Entrepreneur and Jarb-Creaturr. I’m not exactly sure what class of workers is considered beyond kneejerk spite from GOPers these days.
A Humble Lurker
@Keith G:
And your reason for thinking that would be?
Keith G
Woman Realized She Can Grow Veggies Year Round
[…] just finished reading the book The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener by Niki Jabbour, and it has changed my way of thinking about winter. This book talks a lot about winter gardening in cold climates, and how to continue to grow food throughout the winter. I’m not talking about growing food indoors, I’m taking about growing food year-round outside […]
“When you first think about it, winter gardening seems impossible. I mean it’s below zero outside, how could any plant possibly survive that? Winter gardening is normal in warm climates, and even people in milder climates can grow food year round because the winters are so mild. But the idea of growing garden fresh vegetables through the winter in a harsh climate like Minnesota doesn’t seem possible without an expensive heated greenhouse.”
Shakopee Valley News
/parody
Keith G
@A Humble Lurker: Stasis have never been a reality in American politics.
A Humble Lurker
@Keith G:
But stupid/crazy has been with us from the start.
Keith G
@A Humble Lurker: Yup and there have been time when the Democrats were wallowing in teh stupid and teh crazy too.
A Humble Lurker
@Keith G:
That’s my point. It doesn’t go away. It just moves.
Rock
You know, the winning message for Democrats would be to be blame government for inequality. I kid you not. Just say “The tax code is rigged to favor big corporations and hedge fund managers…the rules governing investing are rigged to favor billionaires…workplace safety laws are rigged to favor businesses…consumer protection laws are rigged to favor businesses and not consumers” And then say you’ll reform government to make things fair.
People are primed to blame government, not industry or the rich. I think it would work.
Keith G
@A Humble Lurker: Are we speaking of the same concept? The idea that concerns me is that at times it seems as if the only future the Democrats are aiming for is a future with Republics unable to reform their process. That may end up being a critical weakness.
Keith G
@Rock: You have a point. But that would take courage – and the actual desire for change.
A Humble Lurker
@Keith G:
Well, I guess I agree it’s not a good idea to bank on it, but I do think it’s going to happen.
jibeaux
@Litlebritdiftrnt: We don’t have one of those, except for bread outlets, but any time I go to Aldi there are people who I assume drove a long way to get there, based on the stockup quantities they’re buying. Aldi pays halfway decently and is lifesavingly cheap for many people, and their $1 pineapples are better than the $4 one I got at Harris Teeter.
Dolly Llama
@Rock: This is a damn good post. Framing. You haz it.
mainmata
A month or so ago, we were treated to Luntz Agonistes as well. (Yawn). The man was an excellent PR whore for the Goopers. I guess that’s a life; it certainly screwed up the last decade and more. As for Cantor, he is at best an opportunist and at worst, a low life rtf*cker. Yeah, he leads a pack of jackals but he long played the leader of the jackals so there’s that.
catclub
@Litlebritdiftrnt: “Cantor has to realize that the torches and pitch forks are not far away, people are pissed off, severely so.”
I am not seeing it. People are so pissed off they are … posting on blogs?
catclub
@Rock: That sounds surprisingly effective on first read. Maybe smarter people than I will think about it.
Cervantes
@Violet:
At the moment, he’s volunteering his time pro bono publico to help the Washington Redskins keep their name. I believe Ari Fleischer is helping also.
What could go wrong?
Cervantes
@Litlebritdiftrnt:
Patek Phillippe watches can cost 60-70 times that.
Ruckus
@catclub:
Sounds good.
What happens when you change the framing of the issue to what your opposition has been using? You’ve conceded the issue. The answer back would be “See, even the Democrats think government is the problem”. The speed with which that would be delivered would give the entire country whiplash. You can’t give up your position in negotiation and expect to win the debate. You have to learn to explain your position better. We haven’t done that.
Mike G
@Mandalay:
Hussman Funds puts out a weekly market update —
http://www.hussman.net/weeklyMarketComment.html
He has some pretty astute observations on financial markets. Right now he says it’s basically poised on a precipice by any historical measures of valuation. Expected returns are negative for the next seven years.
Chris T.
@Villago Delenda Est: It will break something, but probably not news. A different four letter word, starting with W and ending with D, with something IN the middle…
McJulie
@lamh36:
Pick on our next president Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden of course!
schrodinger's cat
@Cervantes: They are pretty fugly, I prefer Cartier for spendy watches.