During his victory speech in New Hampshire on Tuesday night, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney stuck to the script for the most part, rarely straying from the “prepared remarks” released by the campaign as the speech began. There was only one substantial change: Romney added an accusation that President Obama “wants to turn America into a European-style social welfare state,” whereas in the prepared remarks, the line read “entitlement society.”

Surging Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum is the bright, shiny new center of the media universe, and that dynamic is already paying dividends. At a campaign event in New Hampshire, Santorum stripped away all of the Frank Luntz-approved happy talk about health care, and exposed Republican attitudes about health care to the cold light of day. He mocked the idea of having “something for everybody,” and clumsily equated health care inequality with freedom.

Well, here’s a different side of Newt Gingrich. While in Iowa, the GOP candidate made a stop to answer some question at a forum hosted by a mothers’ group. After pollster Frank Luntz asked him for a special memory of his mother, Gingrich began saying that, because she was in a choir, he still tears up when singing Christmas carols. This got some chuckles from the audience which were instantly stifled when it became clear that Gingrich had begun crying right then and there.

At a meeting of the Republican Governor’s Association this week, pollster and strategist Frank Luntz made a bold admission: that he was “frightened to death” of Occupy Wall Street, and suggested their influence had made the term “capitalism” toxic and it should be replaced with “economic freedom.” One person not content to follow those instructions? Rush Limbaugh, who chastised Luntz for “dumb[ing] down” the conservative message for a movement that was “about disbanded.”

On Thursday night’s The Ed Show, host Ed Schultz joined 99 percenters across the nation in celebrating Republican pollster Frank Luntz‘s admission that he’s “frightened to death” of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Schultz and guest Alan Grayson correctly assess Luntz’s fear as a positive sign that the movement is having a real impact, but they badly underestimate Luntz’s Jedi mind-trickery, declaring that it won’t work this time.

This Saturday, Republican candidates for president gathered around for a “Thanksgiving table forum” debate hosted by Christian group Family Leader, and while the debate was as notable for its absences (Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman abstained; the latter having a surprise SNL date) as much as for the emotional declarations of the candidates, it was Newt Gingrich who delivered the applause line of the night, telling Occupy Wall Street, “go get a job after you take a bath.”

In May of 2009, the Times’ Deborah Solomon interviewed pollster and messaging expert Frank Luntz for her weekly “Questions” column. She challenged him immediately over the phrase “Washington Takeover” in a 28-page memo titled “The Language of Health Care.” Luntz admitted that he didn’t know if “takeover” was a correct description, which Politifact rated Luntz’s “takeover” its Lie of the Year. Though Luntz’s reputation remained unscathed.

During last night’s presidential address before a joint session of Congress on the American Jobs Act, Democratic public opinion firm Hart Research Associates conducted the kind of interactive dial focus group popularized by Republican pollster Frank Luntz. According to Hart Research, the group was composed of “swing voters” who left the speech with a much more positive attitude toward President Obama’s handling of the economy than they had going in. Even taken with a grain of salt, the study is revealing.

Last night’s Frank Luntz‘s Fox News focus group seemed mostly enamored with Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain, overwhelmingly naming him the clear winner in the first Republican presidential debate. (The focus group also unanimously deemed this post’s headline “the best ever.”)

Rep. Paul Ryan created quite a stir a few weeks back by presenting a budget proposal that took the political media by storm. Just when it seemed President Obama was on the ropes, though, he came out swinging with a plan of his own that rejected key elements of Ryan’s plan which, if you believe the polls, almost every American rejects, as well. Why, then, does it appear that the President is playing the GOP to a draw, at best?

Some polls indicate a positive response to President Obama’s State of the Union address, but not everyone was happy with the speech, especially not members of Frank Luntz‘s focus group on Fox News last night. Words like “empty,” “redundant,” and “platitudes” were used by some of the focus group members to describe their thoughts about the speech.

“I’m thinking starting it with ‘Pooh’ is not a good idea,” said Megyn Kelly, attempting to pronounce PPACA, the acronym for the Health Care Law’s new name, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Both she and Alan Colmes were pretty unimpressed. The two had an interesting conversation about the powers of branding and the necessity for a “sexy” moniker.

Political frustration on either side of the aisle seems to be reaching fever pitch the closer we get to the end of the year, and with the latest tax struggle in Congress bringing out some of the harshest rhetoric yet, Sean Hannity and analyst Frank Luntz are wondering where this language has been for the rest of the year, and while Democrats are reserving it for the GOP.

Fox News contributor and right-of-center pollster Frank Luntz held a focus group yesterday for Hannity and the results were remarkable for a couple of reasons. First, the speech that Obama made announcing the extension of the Bush Tax Cuts saw a far more positive response from GOP participants than those who self-identified as Democrats. Secondly, and perhaps more entertainingly, the follow up discussion was like a scene from The Jerry Springer Show. Woof.

Pollster Frank Luntz loves his real-time dial panels, and he regularly hosts them as part of Sean Hannity‘s Fox News show.

He found a feisty group last night in Southern California, and the decidedly fair and balanced segment highlighted the deep divide among the left and right.

Pollster Frank Luntz does two things really well – come up with phrases that work (“death tax” anyone?) and lead a group of people in real-time dial polling.

He took the polling to a new, personal level last night, asking what an Arizona group thought of Sean Hannity. Guess what? They love that great American!

Much like candidate Obama’s passing comment about “redistributing the wealth” got a ton of airtime in the Fall of 2008, this too certainly seems like a quote we can expect to hear played over and over again in the run-up to the midterm election. Yesterday President Obama spoke about the reasons for pushing financial reform and let loose the following quip, which was immediately pounced upon by Sean Hannity and his guest Frank Luntz.

With the UK’s left-wing Labour Party in steep decline, Sean Hannity had pollster Frank Luntz on his show last night to discuss how the political landscape overseas could relate to the 2010 midterm elections. Luntz suggested that “it happens first in Britain and then comes to America,” which means this era of unprecedented polarization will lead to a massive victory by… the centrist party?

Americans can’t separate Sarah Palin‘s person from her politics– that is the conclusion The O’Reilly Factor came to on Friday after having Fox News’ resident pollster Dr. Frank Luntz survey Philadelphia voters on their reactions to the Trig Palin-inspired Family Guy episode. The polling showed that “Republicans” were much more repulsed by the program. “Democrats have a reputation of being more compassionate,” Luntz noted, “yet the Democrats didn’t find that offensive.” Watch the segment here.

Fox News, 9:04pmET:

Sometimes a chyron misspelling is particularly glaring because it accidentally makes a separate point. And rarely the misspelling serves to reinforce the exact opposite point. Thus was the case last night on Sean Hannity’s 9pmET FNC program. But besides the misspelling, there was also a serious discussion about the viability of Sarah Palin as GOP contender.

In a move not dissimilar from the New York Post trying to will Eliot Spitzer back into office with a series of scantily sourced front page stories, Politico reported earlier that friends of Fox News president Roger Ailes are encouraging the businessman to consider a run for President of the United States in 2012. Ailes quickly laughed off the claim with a quote from an aide.

Host of CNN’s American Morning John Roberts asked Republican pollster and Fox News Analyst Frank Luntz “When you used charged language like that are you contributing to the anger?” This was but one of many highlights in a spirited interview between the Roberts and the author of the new book What Americans Really Want…Really. Was this John Roberts’ moment?

Almost lost in the brouhaha over the reported truce between GE/Keith Olbermann and Fox News/Bill O’Reilly was the news that Olbermann had kicked replacement host Richard Wolffe off of Countdown. Olbermann cited the appearance of a conflict of interest between Wolffe’s consulting job and his duties as a political analyst for MSNBC. But given the landscape of cable news, in which many big name “politicos” consult on the side quietly or not-so-quietly, why was Wolffe singled out?