How to be Frank Luntz' Worst Nightmare

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From Think Progress:

Influential conservative strategist Frank Luntz has produced a 160-page playbook to advance the right-wing agenda. [And recently, kos got hold of a copy.] Think Progress cuts through the spin and gives you the tools you need to fight back.

Here's what Frank Luntz is hoping the opposition will not do:

• 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. [Note: "Arctic National Wildlife Refuge."]

  • 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.”

Bookmark this link. Go back often. They'll have more as they work their way through the conservative playbook for 2006.