Frank Luntz's polling keeps getting weirder.

On Fox News this weekend, Bill Bradley addressed a focus group of undecided voters while Luntz collected their live reactions on his "Instant Response" dials. And the results were instantaneously graphed across Bradley's head as he spoke.

The absurd presentation was demeaning for Bradley, the thoughtful former senator, presidential candidate, author, Rhodes Scholar and hall-of-famer, and it captures all the vapidity of tactical spectator politics. Luntz hypes the spikes in audience feedback and questions Bradley without any pretense of interest in the issues -- it's all performance. The voters are asked to explain their reactions to Bradley's comments, but really they're scoring the show. It reminded me of a point Matt Bai made about the rise of "meta-voting" back in the 2004 presidential race:

Decades of trying to dissect and interpret the desires of the American voter -- for the purpose, ultimately, of undermining opponents and manipulating public opinion -- have changed the character of the voter himself. The popularizing of political strategy, on TV and in newspapers, has created a class of voter who sees politics more as a tactical pursuit than as a means to an end.

See if the video gets your dial going:

Comments (3)

1. Anything to keep the US voting public isolated from one another... and looking to the MSM for 'guidance' and directives.

   The 'technological boost' is largely a sham... it's far to easily 'tampered with' behind the scenes... and it's just another way to distract the American public from listening to one another, and telling the MSM to...

   "pay attention to individual citizens, or get out of the way..."

   In the video... the commentator drew at least three conclusions that were 'providential' for the corporate agenda... yet... they were speculations disguised as technologically attained facts.

   Hocus-pocus... gimme your focus

   We know what you'll think

   Spectators pay... the cabal's cabaret

   While attention is stood on the brink

   Posted by ttr at 05/20/2008 @ 11:34am

2. This was the logical next step for a debate forum which has perfected the technique of interrupting a person in mid-sentence to prevent him or her from completing a coherent thought.

   Probably the next step will be to consult a focus group's opinion of a featured guest BEFORE he or she even begins to speak on the air.

   The Fox News Corp. is our country's leading producer of opinion-based information, working hard to make information-based opinions a thing of the past.

   Posted by JakobFabian at 05/20/2008 @ 3:32pm

3. ignorant short-term pandering is immoral and stupid!!!

   Posted by jrs112

   but

   that's

   the

   way

   it's

   done.

   Posted by frosty zoom at 05/20/2008 @ 10:08pm