Frank Luntz Learns the Secret to Imus's Success

In his ongoing effort to impress the I-Man with each appearance, top pollster Frank Luntz read aloud what he thinks is the best political quote of the last century. Spoken by President Theodore Roosevelt in a 1910 speech in Paris, it reads:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

As Luntz begins work on his next book to be called “Win: The Language of Victory,” he wondered what the secret to Imus’s success has been over 40 years in broadcasting.

“What I do is not an act,” said Imus, which Luntz translated to mean authenticity. It’s a trait that has been useful to Imus, and that will also serve members of Congress later this year.

The three things the public is looking for from its politicians in 2010, according to Luntz’s polling, are accountability, measurable results, and authenticity. “The great frustration is that voters look at the people in Washington who will say anything to get elected, and then do exactly the opposite,” Luntz said.

In the case of health care reform, which Democrats have been trying to pass for almost a year now, Luntz said that just over one-third of Americans in swing voting districts actually support the new plan. Many Americans are also torn about just who should be entitled to health care in this country; should immigrants, legal or illegal, be covered?

Quoting his friend Delbert McClinton, Imus pointed out that many of those people are simply victims of life circumstances. “I’m not a bleeding heart liberal meathead, but I do think there is room for not stupidity, but some empathy for people who somehow got screwed,” said Imus, who is admittedly conflicted on this issue.

Luntz believes America should have tall fences and wide gates; tall fences so that people can’t come here illegally, wide gates so that those who want to come here legally have the opportunity to do so.

“That should be the case with the people in the Obama administration,” Imus quipped.

Luntz predicted health care reform will pass, but believes it will provoke an intense amount of outrage among American voters, particularly the Independent ones.

Luntz then tried to use one of his best lines (“It used to be that they didn’t read the legislation that they passed,” he said about Congress. “Now they actually haven’t written the legislation.”), but Imus kept cutting him off because he wasn’t listening.

“I do it all the time,” said Imus. He insisted other people do it too. “I’m not going to name names. Okay, Hannity. He doesn’t listen. It doesn’t mean he’s not great. He’s insane, but great.”

-Julie Kanfer