Dan Carol v. Frank Luntz

This is a terrific piece by my friend Dan Carol. Our country desparately needs a real energy policy, yet all we get from GOP consultants is pabulum. Insider political hacks know both Dan and Frank. I'd pay real money to watch Carol eat Luntz's lunch...
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Dan Carol: "Frank Luntz is a Weenie"
5.16.2005
From the Huffington Post - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/archive/dan-carol/frank-luntz-is-a-weenie_933.html

Frank Luntz: I am calling you out. It’s time to stop the ducking and start debating.
The quick background: About a month ago, I challenged GOP pollster Frank Luntz privately in an email to debate energy policy at a time and place of his choosing (and with expanded debate posses if he wanted) because I was so disgusted by how lame his Republican energy “talking points” were.
See Frank, if you don’t know him, is the self-proclaimed genius of using focus groups to find the right words to sell just about anything. And he’s made a career of doing it for Newt Gingrich, George Bush, Republican candidates and loads of corporations.
But this isn’t about Republican v. Democratic stuff – at all. In fact, there are lots of folks on both sides of the aisle (like Robert F Kennedy, Jr. and John McCain of StopGlobalWarming.org, and the Set America Free, Apollo Alliance and Reenergize America coalitions) who are transcending party politics and coming together to spur creative new efforts to create US energy independence. Serious folks – who get that the Bush-Cheney-Luntz energy policy is for the dinosaurs.
Now let’s be clear. I am not ticked off that Frank Luntz is exercising his right to sell his view of the world (drill more oil and build extra nukes with massive taxpayer subsidies) but that the sum total of what he is selling and spinning falls so woefully short of achieving anything close to US energy independence -- while American troops are literally in harm’s way.
That level of political gamesmanship seems to me, in a word, to be UNCONSCIONABLE.
Now I should point out this is hardly the first time (or second, or third) that Mr. Luntz has been called a misleading blowhard or had his ethics questioned.
But maybe it was the first time he was called out as a policy poser with a few of his friends and funders on the cc of the email. Yup, I did that on purpose and he got kinda of mad and refused to debate in a curt response.
Anyhow, while I felt pretty good after that I think a little more shaming is in order. Now I’m willing to admit that maybe I have an anger management problem but as a former energy analyst, a progressive patriot and the father of two I am pretty fired up about this energy stuff being done right. I truly think our economic and national security future is at stake -- and I am not alone.
So here’s my offer again:
Frank, let’s debate serious energy policy at a time and place of your choosing. I am planning to take the summer off so my suggestion for you is to take that time to bone up on a real set of policies you can stand behind (as well as spin) and let’s hit a few campuses this fall. Stanford’s Roosevelt Institution can sponsor one debate I’ll wager; you can pick another venue and sponsor.
And like I said, I am happy to do this alone or with debate posses, on additional topics, if you’d prefer. Or we can go at it right here and right now on The Huffington Post.
Now, maybe Arianna knows the answer, but I am not even sure if Luntz is a Huffington poster. But he is reachable at this email, info@luntz.com, if folks want to send him a note of encouragement.