"Winning" with Language: Frank Luntz vs. Dobby Gibson
Charlie Sheen is "winning." So too is Republican strategist Frank Luntz, whose new book about successfully packaging ideas in persuasive language is called Win . Luntz is perhaps most famous for having engineered the phrase "death taxes" to raise republican ire over previously benign "estate taxes." Well... maybe "climate change" instead of "global warming" is more famous. In any case, Luntz is well known for his ability to frame concepts in inflammatory or understated ways, usually to the advantage of right-wing constituencies. I first learned about Luntz through Frontline 's great episode "The Persuaders." In that program, we see how Luntz uses focus groups and technology to determine which language resonates most with people. His methods were fascinating, and there's no arguing with the success of his concepts. Today, Luntz was a guest on NPR's Talk of the Nation , and I found his analyses both insight...