poisoning Canada with our bilious politics?
Posted by Joshua Holland at 8:50 AM on June 1, 2006.
Hey, that's my escape route!
blame canada
I couldn't resist this classic South Park moment.
Last week, I pointed to a story about Dick Morris, the toe-sucking Republican political hack, bumming around Mexico on a mission to teach the Mexican right some good old-fashioned dirty campaigning.
Canadian readers must have thought, "oh, them too." For the past month, the Canadian media's been pondering the impact Republican über-pollster Frank Luntz and his tactical advice have had on the Tories under Stephen Harper.
Montreal Gazette:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government should do its best over the coming year to dig up embarrassing information on the former Liberal administration and portray it as corrupt, a prominent Republican pollster counseled an influential group of Conservatives Saturday.
Speaking a day after meeting with Harper, Frank Luntz described the Conservatives as allies of the Republicans and urged them to discredit the Liberals so thoroughly that it will be years before they make it back into power.
Of course, Luntz believes in a deep, meaningful political discourse:
During his speech, entitled Massaging the Conservative Message for Voters, Luntz drew a communications roadmap to bring the Conservatives to a majority government a roadmap that Harper's government already appears to be following in several respects.
Focus on accountability and tax relief, said Luntz. Images and pictures are important. Tap into national symbols like hockey.
"If there is some way to link hockey to what you all do, I would try to do it."
Luntz, who famously sent GOPers a memo about global warming in which he warned, "The scientific debate is closing [against the "skeptics"] but not yet closed. There is still a window of opportunity to challenge the science," is bringing Republican-style environmentalism -- Orwellian by definition -- to the Conservatives:
Environmentalists say the Conservatives' communications strategy on climate change almost exactly echoes advice in a three-year-old briefing book written by U.S. pollster and communications adviser Frank Luntz.
Luntz is famous for what he calls "language guidance" - the use of simple messages, carefully tested and frequently repeated, to overcome public suspicions on potentially unpopular policies.
"If you look at the advice he (Luntz) gave to the Republicans some time ago and compare it to how the Conservatives are talking about these things, it's just cut-paste, basically," said Stephen Guilbeault of Greenpeace Canada.
Remember Bush's "Clear Skies" intiative?
Since the Conservatives took office, they have consistently stressed their commitment to clean air and water, and tried to avoid discussion of cutting back environmental programs - although many have been eliminated.
Luntz advises that technology and innovation are the keys to curbing climate change, a theme the Conservatives have repeatedly echoed. "We will be investing in Canadian technology and in Canadians," [Environmental Minister Rona] Ambrose told MPs.
Remember Bush's arguments for getting out of Kyoto?
Ambrose has claimed that "we would have to pull every truck and car off the street, shut down every train and ground every plane to reach the Kyoto target. Or we could shut off all the lights in Canada tomorrow."
That, friends, is a croque de merde, but a familiar one.
Also familiar, and I have no idea if this is related in any way to Luntz's pilgrimage, is Stephen Harper's ongoing battle with the Canadian media. He's not speaking to them right now -- at least not to the national media:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper accused members of the national media on Wednesday of bias, vowing to avoid them from now on in favour of less hostile local reporters.
Harper told a London, Ont. TV station in an interview that the Ottawa press gallery has decided to become the Official Opposition to his Conservative government, and that he's experiencing difficulty that no Liberal prime minister would ever have to face.
"Unfortunately the press gallery has taken t
www.alternet.org/blogs/themix/36966/#more
Posted by Joshua Holland at 8:50 AM on June 1, 2006.
Hey, that's my escape route!
blame canada
I couldn't resist this classic South Park moment.
Last week, I pointed to a story about Dick Morris, the toe-sucking Republican political hack, bumming around Mexico on a mission to teach the Mexican right some good old-fashioned dirty campaigning.
Canadian readers must have thought, "oh, them too." For the past month, the Canadian media's been pondering the impact Republican über-pollster Frank Luntz and his tactical advice have had on the Tories under Stephen Harper.
Montreal Gazette:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government should do its best over the coming year to dig up embarrassing information on the former Liberal administration and portray it as corrupt, a prominent Republican pollster counseled an influential group of Conservatives Saturday.
Speaking a day after meeting with Harper, Frank Luntz described the Conservatives as allies of the Republicans and urged them to discredit the Liberals so thoroughly that it will be years before they make it back into power.
Of course, Luntz believes in a deep, meaningful political discourse:
During his speech, entitled Massaging the Conservative Message for Voters, Luntz drew a communications roadmap to bring the Conservatives to a majority government a roadmap that Harper's government already appears to be following in several respects.
Focus on accountability and tax relief, said Luntz. Images and pictures are important. Tap into national symbols like hockey.
"If there is some way to link hockey to what you all do, I would try to do it."
Luntz, who famously sent GOPers a memo about global warming in which he warned, "The scientific debate is closing [against the "skeptics"] but not yet closed. There is still a window of opportunity to challenge the science," is bringing Republican-style environmentalism -- Orwellian by definition -- to the Conservatives:
Environmentalists say the Conservatives' communications strategy on climate change almost exactly echoes advice in a three-year-old briefing book written by U.S. pollster and communications adviser Frank Luntz.
Luntz is famous for what he calls "language guidance" - the use of simple messages, carefully tested and frequently repeated, to overcome public suspicions on potentially unpopular policies.
"If you look at the advice he (Luntz) gave to the Republicans some time ago and compare it to how the Conservatives are talking about these things, it's just cut-paste, basically," said Stephen Guilbeault of Greenpeace Canada.
Remember Bush's "Clear Skies" intiative?
Since the Conservatives took office, they have consistently stressed their commitment to clean air and water, and tried to avoid discussion of cutting back environmental programs - although many have been eliminated.
Luntz advises that technology and innovation are the keys to curbing climate change, a theme the Conservatives have repeatedly echoed. "We will be investing in Canadian technology and in Canadians," [Environmental Minister Rona] Ambrose told MPs.
Remember Bush's arguments for getting out of Kyoto?
Ambrose has claimed that "we would have to pull every truck and car off the street, shut down every train and ground every plane to reach the Kyoto target. Or we could shut off all the lights in Canada tomorrow."
That, friends, is a croque de merde, but a familiar one.
Also familiar, and I have no idea if this is related in any way to Luntz's pilgrimage, is Stephen Harper's ongoing battle with the Canadian media. He's not speaking to them right now -- at least not to the national media:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper accused members of the national media on Wednesday of bias, vowing to avoid them from now on in favour of less hostile local reporters.
Harper told a London, Ont. TV station in an interview that the Ottawa press gallery has decided to become the Official Opposition to his Conservative government, and that he's experiencing difficulty that no Liberal prime minister would ever have to face.
"Unfortunately the press gallery has taken t
www.alternet.org/blogs/themix/36966/#more
