Leadership Quote by Frank Luntz

Permission slips rarely come more blunt than this. Frank Luntz, the GOP’s most famous wordsmith, isn’t describing persuasion as an exchange of reasons; he’s describing it as a managed emotional event with a deliverable. “Acceptable” is the tell: he’s not claiming it’s true, noble, or even effective in the long run. He’s staking out the ethics of the tactic. If tears happen, fine. If tears are engineered, still fine. The only condition is utility: the emotion must “explain” why the audience should buy, subscribe, or vote.

The subtext is an instruction manual for politics as branding. Notice the seamless slide from “product” to “candidate,” as if a public servant is just another SKU. That collapse isn’t accidental; it’s the worldview of modern campaigncraft, where voters are “consumers,” policies are “features,” and the ballot is a checkout button. In that frame, emotional overwhelm becomes a shortcut around scrutiny. Tears are framed as understanding, even though they can also be a sign of pressure, fear, or shame.

Context matters: Luntz built a career proving that language can reroute public opinion - “death tax,” “climate change,” “energy exploration.” This quote extends that philosophy from vocabulary to visceral experience. It’s not about making the best case; it’s about making the case feel inevitable. The chilling part is its calmness. It doesn’t sound like a villain monologue. It sounds like a performance KPI: if the story breaks them open, the message got through.