Republican Playbook Instructs on How to Lie

News and Opinion for Democrats Against Bush -- Part II

Republican "Playbook" Instructs on How to Lie

"Indeed it can be helpful to think of environmental and other issues in terms of 'story.' A compelling story, even if factually inaccurate, can be more emotionally compelling than a dry recitation of the truth... The facts are beside the point. It's all in how you frame your argument."

--Frank Luntz, as quoted by Kenny Ausubel on alternet.com

Alternet.com

This Is Your Brain on Public Relations

By Kenny Ausubel, AlterNet
October 28, 2003

To see the complete article, click on-- http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17034

Excerpt--

Recently the Environmental Working Group, a public-interest group based in the Beltway, leaked a fascinating story, a kind of story within a story about how to frame the environmental story. Actually it's about instructing conservative politicians how to lie through their teeth to sucker the public into doing the opposite of what people want. ...

Kenny Ausubel is the founder of Bioneers.

Environmental Working Group

Briefing: Luntz Memo on the Environment

The complete article is available on EWG's website at-- http://www.ewg.org/briefings/luntzmemo/

Excerpt--

... Environmental Working Group (EWG) recently obtained documents from a briefing book compiled by the lobbyists’ top public opinion researcher. Frank Luntz is known as the architect of House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s 1994 “Contract with America,” and he has a “who’s who” corporate lobbyist client list along with a large number of conservative politicians. The attached 16 pages* are part of a briefing book for lobbyists and Republican politicians on how to spin a variety of topics to roll back environmental and public health protections while avoiding a public backlash — like the one they experienced in 1995-96. ...

In this article, EWG includes a very useful chart of Luntz's dos and don'ts and how they look in practice.

*EWG also provides 16 pages of Luntz's original document in .pdf form.

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