Veteran pollster and former Republican adviser Frank Luntz, known for running focus groups and flaunting an ebullient and garrulous style, has warned a group of British newspaper journalists against allowing UK politics to degenerate into a system as polarised and marred by “poison” as that currently seen in America.
“You still like each other, you still respect each other, you still value public debate: your democracy is still functioning. Ours has seized up and I don’t know how to get ours flowing again. Be thankful that you don’t have our poison … I’m very afraid of the American system being hopelessly damaged,” he was cited by The Guardian as saying.
During the gathering in Washington, Luntz, who admitted he had been “in real emotional trouble” when he arrived in the UK last year, intending to stay just a month, revealed he had not yet fully recovered from his stroke in 2020.
Prime Minister's Questions at the parliament in London
© REUTERS / UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor / Prime Minister's Questions at the parliament in London
He voiced his gratitude to Britain, where he claims that he was prompted to linger for nearly eight months after finding the country a welcome antidote to what he had been witnessing in the US.
“You all have proven that there’s still a desire for substance in politics, not just slogans and soundbites, and thank God you haven’t completely embraced American politics because your elections are of substance rather than style. I know that you guys are critical of the UK in recent times for being too American in your elections. You’re not. We are becoming more and more superficial. You are still substantial.”
He then played a video clip of one of his US focus groups conducted just before the 2020 presidential election, saying, “I want to show you what a s***show America is.”
The discussion was seen quickly spiralling into mayhem marred by angry shouting and recriminations. Commenting, Luntz said:
“The worst of the worst. This is my warning to you. This is sh*t. This is a disaster and it will come to you if you let it happen.”
According to Luntz, a major factor increasing the risk of a democratic breakdown was the partisan character of most UK newspapers, as evidenced throughout recent general elections and the debate over Brexit.
Addressing a correspondent from the Daily Mail, Luntz cautioned his paper against going “over the top” as it would entail bringing an American-style “cancel culture” to the UK.
“This is how you get circulation, but the cancel culture isn't as big there as it is in America, and you don't want it. And the danger is if you go over the top, you are actually making it worse in your opposition to it,” he said.
He added:
“You want to make people aware so they don't make the mistakes that we did in America. But you also don't want to make things worse.”
He lamented how the US political system had experienced a “loss of civility and decency” and the tone of campaigns in the US has become “very vengeful”.
“I am screaming at the American media, don't do that — don't go in the direction of the British press … I've told my British friends not to copy what we've done in America. But I've told my American media colleagues, don't behave the way they do in Britain,” he said, adding:
“I figured it out. And I'm asking you guys to figure it out now, too, before it's too late.”