Should anyone have doubt about Occupy Wall Street’s continued momentum, look no further than recent statements made by pollster Frank Luntz at the Republican Governor’s convention in Florida last week.
Luntz, a top conservative pollster and FOX news contributor, said at the convention, “I’m so scared of this anti-Wall Street effort.” Luntz continued, “I’m frightened to death.” He finished by stating that the Occupy movement is “having an impact on what the American people think of capitalism.”
Luntz offered no solid rejoinders based on facts to counter the movement’s apparent ground-gaining strength. Instead, he suggested propagandist strategies to the Republican audience. Some of Luntz’s tactical talking points to the Occupy-phobic GOP group:
When facing Occupy Wall Street protestors, fake sympathy. GOP members should respond with the expressions, ‘I get it.’ … ‘I get that you’re… I get that you have seen inequality. I get that you want to fix the system.'
Don’t call Wall Street and corporate bonuses, ‘bonuses.’ Rather, call bonuses ‘pay for performance.’
Since Americans have stopped trusting Republicans in defending the middle class, simply stop mentioning the ‘middle class.’ Instead, call them ‘hardworking taxpayers.’ “We can say we defend the ‘middle class’ and the public will say, I’m not sure about that. But defending ‘hardworking taxpayers’… Republicans will have the advantage,” said Luntz.
Don’t mention the word ‘capitalism.’According to Luntz, his polling has determined that, “the public still prefers capitalism to socialism, but they think capitalism is immoral. And if we’re seen as defenders of quote, Wall Street, end quote, we’ve got a problem.”
Stop mentioning the phrase ‘taxing the rich.’ Instead, use, the phrase that the government ‘takes from the rich.’
Will the wordplay work on an Occupy Wall Street-educated American public? Time will tell.
©2011 Domenick Pilla
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