At the very back of the now leaked Republican manual from Frank Luntz are 14 terms that Republicans are never supposed to use, and some of the words on the list may surprise you.
The leaked Republican manual is the entire framework which Republicans have been using for years to frame issues and win debates. Although it was written in 2006, much of the Luntz gospel is still not only in use, but is repeated verbatim daily by the GOP members of Congress and the candidates who are running for the 2012 nomination.
Here is the entire manual:
(Leaked) Luntz Republican Playbook
For our purposes in 2012, the most interesting part of the manual that is located in an appendix titled The 14 Words Republicans Should Never Use. Luntz introduced the list by writing, “Sometimes it is not what you say that matters but what you don’t say. Other times a single word or phrase can undermine or destroy the credibility of a paragraph or entire presentation. This memo was originally prepared exclusively for Congressional spouses because they are your eyes and ears, a one-person reality check and truth squad combined. However, by popular demand, I have included and expanded that document because effectively communicating the New American Lexicon requires you to STOP saying words and phrases that undermine your ability to educate the American people. So from today forward, YOU are the language police. From today forward, these are the words never to say again.”
Here’s the list:
Never say/ Instead say:
1. Government / Washington
2. Privatization/Private Accounts / Personalization/Personal Accounts
3. Tax Reform / Tax Simplification
4. Inheritance/Estate Tax / The Death Tax
5. A Global Economy/Globalization/Capitalism/ Free Market Economy
6. Outsourcing/ Taxation, Regulation, Litigation, Innovation, Education
7. Undocumented Workers/ Illegal Aliens
8. Foreign Trade/ International Trade
9. Drilling for oil/ Exploring for energy
10. Tort Reform/ Lawsuit Abuse Reform
11. Trial Lawyer/ Personal Injury Lawyer
12. Corporate Transparency/ Corporate Accountability
13. School Choice/ Parental Choice/Equal Opportunity in Education
14. Healthcare “Choice”/ “The Right to Choose”
All of these words and phrases were decided on based on focus groups and polling. Terms like undocumented worker are still not used by Republicans. Instead, the much more politically loaded term illegal alien is used. Luntz also makes extensive use of language that implies a positive or negative right. The term parental choice implies that Republicans are positively defending the right of parents to decide where their children go to school. In reality voucher programs take money away from public schools and don’t give parents enough funds to cover the tuition and expenses of a private institution, but this fact is covered up by invoking the positive language of choice.
When Republicans are told to use the right to choose when discussing healthcare, they are framing the discussion in terms of a negative rights. Republicans want people to people that healthcare reform is about protecting the people from government interference in their healthcare decisions. The 14 words are designed to frame any discussion about an issue in conservative terms. When you hear or read a Democrat or member of the left using any of the terms that Luntz advocated on the list, it a clear indication that the discussion has already been framed and is taking place on Republican terms.
Democrats and Americans in general need to listen carefully and understand what Republicans really mean when they use innovation as code word for outsourcing, or when they talk about exploring for energy and corporate accountability. These terms all invoke a meaning to most Americans, but their meaning is most likely not the same as the Republican policy behind the term.
Luntz’s list points out the biggest difference of all between Democrats and Republicans. The GOP has a playbook, and work together to deliver their message. If a manual such as Luntz’s was written for Democrats, they would never be able to work together enough to effectively spread their message.
This manual was written five years ago, and Republicans are still using it today, so when Democrats claim that Republicans have no new ideas, they aren’t kidding. The GOP may tinker around the edges of this playbook, but their propaganda strategy is still the same. Most of all, this manual is a reminder to Democrats that words matter.
Before Democrats can ever win the battle over policy, they must first understand and win the war of words.
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I am surprised to not see an ELEC signature approval on this. I guess the Dems need to turn the tables around and use the other words.
The only one I agree with them is illegal aliens. My god I hope that doesn’t make me a gopper!
I also use “illegal alien” when I write. If they are here illegally, they are illegal. It seems pretty cut and dried semantically.
We are doomed I tell you!
I refer to such persons as “illegal immigrants” or “unlawful immigrants” – because they’re here illegally, yes, but they’re also just people trying to make a living for themselves and their families just like anyone else. There is no need to try to make them seem strange by calling them “aliens”.
And remember, this nation was founded by people who moved here and stole the land from the people who were previously living here because conditions in the places they came from were bad and opportunities here were better, so it’s not like we’re in a great moral position to be turning our noses up at illegal immigrants today.
What this country was founded on is not representative of today. Although we do admit the Indian part of our history was intolerable and horrible. No one alive today was alive then. the morals of the past do not reflect the morals of today. The room for immigration today does not reflect the room that was available in the past history of this country as well.
They are aliens by definition of the word aliens. Although it really doesn’t matter which term you use.
C’mon guys. Being progressive equates to being inclusive. You are a couple of beers away from saying “brown people”. Without immigration, legal or otherwise, there is no country to speak of historically. Look at Georgia and Alabama, it’s working out just swell for them isn’t it? So unless you plan on growing your own damn vegetables, undocumented worker or economic refugee will do.
Historically is meaningless and no I am not a beer away from saying Brown.
Here illegally = illegal alien. That applies to the large group of Irish living in NY who are illegal, huge numbers of Indian and Chinese. Less than 5% of illegals pick veggies as well. It doesn’t work that way. I am all for legal work permits for people to come here and work
Does this mean I get to keep all the stuff my Grandpa swiped from those Jews back in the old country?Is there any moral difference?I know this is tangenital but the attitude taken to native populations is criminal.In any case lets acknowledge that restrictions on immigration are a violation of fundamental human rights.Immigration was the engine that drove America to wealth in the first place.The perception of limited resources that we need to keep for ourselves is a canard created by a cohort of cowardly self serving pols and powers in order to create a schism in the working class and prevent their own disempowerment.
the only restrictions I place on immigration are legal immigration. Illegal immigration is illegal. I have no problem with a legal flow of people under this country. I do have a problem with this opening the gates and letting everyone in just because they feel they want something that they cannot get at home.
I do not feel that I need to pay for Mexico’s people.
Immigration was the engine that drove America to wealth in the first place. Totally agree. But it has nothing to do with 2011.
No, Shiva, maybe you’re not a beer away from saying, “brown”. Maybe it’ll take a shot of bourbon.
How about Illegal Worker?
No, we’ve seen evidence of your heart and compassion. You are no GOPPER.
Asylum seekers almost never arrive with documents, but if they can prove their claim, they are not “illegal”.
And that would account for 1 out of every 15 million coming over the fence
No, quite a few more: I used to represent them. Currently, the economics of this country are far less attractive than they used to be, but if you are in a country where dump trucks stop on the highway and dump several dozen corpses in front of you, you might want to get the Hell out (a non-governmental entity that has the power to do this anywhere in the country can “persecute”, in the legal sense). A number of Colombian government officials in the Eighties had to seek asylum in this country even though they were the lawful government and their persecutors were not, simply because they refused to be corrupted. If the Dissocialists take over, a sizable number of Americans, including us, will stampede for the Canadian border. And meanwhile, you bunch of inlanders, what are you getting your jockeys in a bunch for? Here, we’ve had it going on since Ponce de Leon, and Florida flew the Pus and Blood a lot longer than it has flown the Stars and Stripes.
All this past history is interesting but meaningless. We were built on immigration is true, but that does not apply to the situation in 2011. We used to have company owners whop beat their own employees and forced them to buy their own tools to do the job but that does not apply to today either. We used to have slaves but what does that mean today?
Yeah, if you don’t like it, stick your fingers in your ears.
Why are we calling “human beings” aliens?
These people may be here illegally but calling them “aliens” makes them sound as if they are evil space invaders on a conquest from outer space.
How about illegal inhabitants; it’s only one syllable more and it’s not so de-humanizing, demonizing of “the other”.
I agree. The term “illegal alien” is intentionally derogatory, whereas “illegal immigrant” is an exact description.
Because alien is the proper use of the definition of the people being referred to.
Not everyone without documents is “illegal”, and not everyone who has them is “legal”: see supra. Carteleros invariably have the means to get perfectly legitimate documents, and for your enlightenment, see “operation paperclip”, few of whose beneficiaries were entitled to entry on the facts.
I use the term Mexican Nationals for the people that live in my community. They are after all people, and calling them aliens makes it easy to discount their humanity. Those of us fortunate enough to be born here need to realize that this country was built by immigrants. Unless you are Native American your ancestors were immigrants They are people with the gumption to improve their lives and the lives or their children. They are the embodiment of the spirit of this country.
I am a native American. I was born here.
Illegal alien does not detail a persons humanity, it is an expression of their status in this country. Nothing more nothing less.
Immigration most certainly did go a long way in building this country. But that has nothing to do with 2011 and our situation today.
STATE’S RIGHTS
CRIME IN THE STREETS
THE SILENT MAJORITY
Remember those words??????
I am against almost all of the GOP substitutions on the list and prefer the original words except for #7. Illegal Alien is just what it is.
damn! i hope this gets some serious circulation… good job! the new woodward/ bernstein lives here…..
FTA: When you hear or read a Democrat or member of the left using any of the terms that Luntz advocated on the list, it a clear indication that the discussion has already been framed and is taking place on Republican terms.
That’s the central reason for the terminology utilized by the GOP and the thing is, it works.
This is the sort of article that I live to read. The nexus between language and the images it invokes cannot be underestimated, not only among those who are sympathetic to the GOP, but even people who are not. Just one example: When Anderson Cooper made the mistake of claiming that poor Americans pay no taxes, when he meant, although they don’t pay income taxes, the poor definitely pay taxes.
That makes sense. Take the Dem out of his comfort zone and into yours.
Check out George Lakoff’s “Don’t Think of an Elephant”. He’s a linguist whose been trying to get Dems to rethink their language for years. Do you think we’ll ever listen?
Well, so that explains why GWB sounded so stupid! It was 14 words…… Look, even if he could pronounce them, he did not know the meanings. This man could not read even if he held a telepromter in his hands. So all of these coded words means absolutely nothing if you have no core, stand for nothing and everything, daddy bought you everything and everybody, flesh is weak, lier, cheater, have a problem sharing your wealth, so rich you create lies and destroy people just because you can. So who cares? In the end, we will all be judged not by which party you voted for nor how rich you were. It’s a heart thing. What did you do between the (-) the hypen marked on your tombstone. All the time what matters is, it is not what you do, it is what you don’t do that matters.”
I suppose each of you demanding people be called “illegal aliens” have never committed a crime. If you have, you should be referred to as “illegal citizens” from this point forward. Shame on us for putting nationality and immigration status before our humanity. “Bring us your tired, your hungry, your poor…”
Illegal aliens commit a felony when they enter this country illegally. I doubt most of the “crimes” that you say other people commit are actually felonies. There is a big difference from a felony and something like a traffic violation.
actually they commit a misdemeanor which quite frankly is embarrassing. It should be a felony
Exactly; what’s wrong with enforcing Immigration laws??
I have no problem with enforcing immigration laws
If its done
Framing, it works.
Notice how the ‘liberals’ are not just defending the term ‘illegal alien’, but they are too defending the notion they are a threat. The threat are people in their own nations – they are the ones taking American Jobs. The illegal aliens in the USA are being used as an opportunity to distract and scapegoat.
The lesson is this may never have been possible if we had been talking about undocumented workers for all these years. By controlling the language, Republicans have shaped YOUR opinions. That’s the power we’re talking about, and the discussion here but validates that power in a big way.
“…”We don’t necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain types of people.”
-Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC instructor
Is this what you meant by controlling the language in order to validates “power”?
The simple fact that the GOP is using a book that talks about “Winning in 2006″ when they were beaten by a landslide, is indicative of how their ideology never changes! They are not about people or country but rather about party and power-and always will be. After watching Luntz several times on Fox, I’m surprised they still listen to him although it speaks volumes about the stupidity of their viewers and party followers. What a sad commentary they are on some members of society today.
So the gop has their own version of political correct terms, even though they still whine about political correctness!
Let us not forget that “family values” means “putting uppity women back in their place”, “political correctness” means “a prissy insistance we treat subhumans like humans”; “pro- life” means “punishing women for enjoying sex”, and the numerous euphemisms that mean, “if you don’t believe the way we do, we should have the right to beat you up, humiliate you, starve you, and kill you”.
You mean stuff like this? I bring up this “woman” because many people didn’t believe these “vandals” were stealing the “handle”, or co-opting the system via their “code” or playbook.
Bristol Herald Courier 9/29/2001, TOPEKA, Kan.
“A female state senator says if women’s suffrage were being voted on today she would not support it, because the 19th Amendment was the start of a decades-long erosion of family values.
“I’m an old-fashioned woman, Senator. Kay O’Connor told The Kansas City Star. “Men should take care of women, and if men were taking care of women (today) “we wouldn’t have to vote.”
O’Connor said she does vote. But she said she believes that if men had been protecting the best interests of women, then women would not be forced to cast ballots and serve in the Legislature. Instead, they could stay home, raise families and tend to domestic duties, she said.”…
“…Kay was born in Everett, Washington, in 1941 and raised on a 160 acre homestead north of Fairbanks, Alaska. Kay graduated from Lathrop High School in Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1959. She was married to Art in 1959 and they have 6 children and many grandchildren and great grandchildren.”
Sound familiar?
Kay O’Connor eventually resigned from the state Senate in 2006. She “unexpectedly announced” to her supporters via e-mail, just seven weeks after her lopsided defeat in the GOP primary for secretary of state.
Sound familiar??
Where is health care reform? Michele Bachmann uses ‘Obamacare’ in her shrill voice dozens of times per speech. “ObaaamacAAre!”(shudder)
It seems Jason Easley has also discovered the 14 words that Democrats must ALWAYS USE even though they are less accurate than the words used by Republicans. Let’s be real. How many banks have been robbed by “undocumented depositors”? How many rapes have been committed by “undocumented husbands”? How many burglaries have been committed by “undocumented home residents”?
For over 70 years, Democrats have been instituting their “tax reform” that has ALWAYS increased taxes for everybody. When Republicans want to reform taxes, it is often to reduce rather than increase.
Reality check. For 70 years the country has been growing. The republicans do not know that
This should be required reading for every American. This and “The protocols of the Elders of Zion”.
I guess this write-up was written subsequent to a good amount of exploration.
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As a European coming often to America to visit my inlaws, I hate having to line up as an “alien”. It is a heartless word and does not represent what I believe to be American hospitality. It is sad to see people who claim to be democrats being so thick skinned towards their fellow humans and seems quite racist to those of us to whom it is applied. Remember that “Government by the people” was mostly “Government by aliens” when those words were written.