Luntz Memo Helps To Greenwash Republicans

Source: New York Times, March 2, 2003 "Over the last six months, the Republican Party has subtly refocused its message on the environment, an issue that a party strategist Frank Luntz called 'the single biggest vulnerability for the Republicans and especially for George Bush' in a memorandum encouraging the new approach. The Republicans, as the memorandum advised them, have softened their language to appeal to suburban voters, speaking out for protecting national parks and forests, advocating investment in environment technologies and shifting emphasis to the future rather than the present. ... National environmental groups say the shift has blunted the edge of Republican attacks. 'They are not playing defense anymore,' said Kim Haddow, a consultant for the Sierra Club who has helped counter some Republican advertisements. 'It's like a tennis game. The ball is back in our court, and we need to spend time and energy educating voters.' "