[Influential conservative strategist Frank Luntz has produced a 160-page playbook to advance the right-wing agenda. Think Progress cuts through the spin and gives you the tools you need to fight back. Check here for updates throughout the week.]
Luntz’s playbook is full of things people should never say if they don’t want to undermine the right-wing agenda. Here’s how you can be Frank Luntz’s worst nightmare:
Economy
• Talk about the economy using “facts and figures.”
• Talk about the overall size of Bush’s proposed tax cut.
• Describe how repealing the estate tax protects America’s wealthiest families.
• Talk about the economy without bringing up 9/11.
• Recall how Bill Clinton produced balanced budgets in the late 1990s.
Budget
• Remind people that conservatives want to make painful cuts in vital government services.
• Talk about the deficit without bringing up 9/11.
Social Security
• Remind people that the financial services industry has been embroiled in scandal and corruption.
• Note that money contributed to private accounts will “go into the hands of greedy Wall Street fat cats.”
• Point out that proponents of Social Security privatization “lack factual discipline.”
• Tell people that the push to privatize Social Security is about partisan politics.
Energy
• Tell people what ANWR stands for.
• Say, “We should rely on American ingenuity and not the Saudi Royal Family.”
• Talk about how drilling for oil harms the environment.
• Always say “Drilling for oil”; Never say “Exploring for energy.”
• Give specific examples of safety and security problems at nuclear power plants.
Patients’ Rights
• When talking about trial lawyers don’t use words like “creeps, bottom-feeds, overpaid and evil.”
• Say, “When innocent people who are injured seek compensation from those who cause their injuries it’s anything but frivolous. When a preventable careless medical error forces a child into a wheelchair for the rest of his life, it’s anything but frivolous. And when someone close to you suffers due to doctor negligence, their right to a day in court is anything but frivolous.”
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