Dear Frank,
Yes, people are mean in politics. Reality does suck.
Granted, politics have been mean, and reality has sucked, for a long time. But you’re one of the people to blame for the modern way in which it sucks, the one in which we can rebrand “torture” — and by “rebrand”, of course, I mean marketing, and not the actual red hot irons. Which you would probably call “interrogative probes.”
Not that any of us who were your students at Penn are particularly surprised. You were a great prof, but part of that was the amazing way in which you equated oleaginous stances to academic merit. “I can argue any political point so convincingly,” you said, “that none of you will be able to tell what I really believe.”
And you can. You’ve made a career of it. If you could have done so while double-dipping from the left and the right, I’m sure you would have. Some of us remember that Perot predated Gingrich on your resumé.
So have fun in Hollywood. I’m sure you’ll get along fine with the “arch-liberals” there. They’ll invite you to parties to play the foil, and you’ll go so you can pretend to be their intellectual superior. It’ll work out great for all of you.
Just do me a favor, Frank. Once you’re there, and you’re getting rich from fiction that is supposed to be fiction? Please stay. I think you’ve done the political infrastructure enough damage already.
Best,
Jeff Porten
UPenn, COL ’90
Dr. Luntz,
Here’s one of those rare occasions where Jeff and I agree. You’ve shown amazing talent in your career – talent for playing the nuances of our national dialog to your clients’ advantage. In doing so, you’ve taken the double-edged sword of twenty-first century public communication and dramatically sharpened one side – the wrong side.
I don’t necessarily disagree with your politics in the way that Jeff does. I don’t see the need to vilify the oil industry when the commodity markets ratchet up the price of their products or the need to impose a tax on post-tax dollars simply because the owner of said dollars has died. But by branding the former the “energy industry” and the latter the “death tax,” you’ve done more than advance your political agenda. You’ve made it permissable to use euphemisms to shape public policy, and to do so blatantly and without apology. You’ve enabled not only Roger Ailes and Karl Rove, but also James Carville and Arianna Huffington. You’ve changed the game for both parties. Those of us who learned from you at Penn now watch helplessly as those who learned from you in Washington continue to refine your craft.
Ironically, your explanation for why you’re leaving politics for Hollywood comes off as simply more of the same. Reality doesn’t suck. The way we talk about reality sucks. And if you really didn’t like what politics has become, then you’d stick around and change it. A man with your proven talent in that area would be amongst the best qualified to do so.
I’m in awe of your success and thrilled to have spent fifteen weeks in your lecture hall. But if studying you has taught me anything over the last eighteen years, it’s to read between, under, and through the lines whenever you speak. You’ve turned your surname into a brand name, and now you’re looking to cash it in. Good luck in LaLa Land. And thanks for going somewhere where you’ll cause less damage.
Sincerely,
Brian Greenberg
UPenn, Wharton ’91