Republican and Conservative political analysis and commentary

Republican pollster Frank Luntz, speaking to a group of Republicans in Fresno, California, served up some good advice to Republicans on the power of language in winning the political debate:

Learn the power of words. For instance: "personalize" Social Security versus "privatizing" it. The word "privatize," he said, conjures up images of exclusivity. Use spirituality instead of religion. Instead of a troop "surge" in Iraq -- which conjures up images of escalation -- use reassess or realign instead. "Our own president is undermining his own case by the language he uses," Luntz said.

Luntz also said talk radio long, one of the big tools in the conservative political toolbox, is past its prime and has been supplanted by the Internet, a medium in which liberals and Democrats have the upper hand.