It is sometimes surprising who generates animus. Pollsters, by the very nature of their work, would seem to be above the fray. Screaming at a pollster is like terrorizing an accountant or the guy who gets to decide if a bad hop results in a hit or an error. Then again, if the accountant is auditing your firm...
Penn and Teller had a sometimes amusing show on Showtime called "Bullshit". Some of their targets were deserving of their scorn but it sometimes seemed like they were in search of enemies. The "Numbers" episode aired May 29, 2006. It seemed strange at the time that they would so viciously attack Frank Luntz but I thought it was funny nonetheless. Here is a cleaned up version of the Luntz segment.
Fast forward to 2008 when Ron Paul is seeking the GOP nomination. I am not going to tell you all the reasons Sean Hannity and Fox News and The Republican establishment HATED Ron Paul and his supporters. But HATE they did. The Paulists believed, which much justification, that Fox News was trying to sabotage Ron Paul's campaign before it got off the ground.
Luntz appears at the 3:03 mark. An aside: I would later meet one of the men in this very group. He was a Romney supporter who liked to smoke cigars and observe political activity. He was respectful of the Ron Paul supporters and seemed to be a real affable guy.
Things heat up a few days before the primaries when Hannity and Luntz stumble out of a Manchester diner. The Paulists scream "Fuck you Frank" and "Fox News sucks" at the infidels. It might have been intimidating but I don't believe anyone actually threw a snowball. A few people tossed loose snow--yes there is a difference--and somehow the Fox Fat Cats survived the ordeal.
I posted another version of this before but that vid is long gone from Youtubopia. This one captures the essence of the event and the pervasive animosity well enough.
There are parallels with Ron Paul and Trump if only that they were/are both despised by the Republican establishment and the news media and targeted by Frank Luntz. But Trump is much more resilient than Ron Paul. Here is our man Frank shrouding the Trump Campaign twenty days ago.
Here the Dynamic Duo seem willing to acknowledge Trump's appeal. Leading the goat to slaughter?
Here Luntz shrouds the Trump Campaign a second time. I suspect Luntz has yet to deplete his pallet of burial cloths.
Note: I am fairly neutral about Donald Trump but I am amazed at how passionate people happen to be about the man and his campaign. This will not be our last Donald post.
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