ABSTRACT
This chapter engages with two arch-realists about political discussion: the conservative realist Frank Luntz, and the liberal-progressive realist George Lakoff. Luntz is a self-described "political and commercial wordsmith", and his advice is posited on the thought that "every human interaction is an opportunity to connect, and then to sell". A version of the view that all political thought is strictly spin has been elevated to the level of a philosophical theory in the work of cognitive scientist turned political strategist Lakoff. Lakoff suggests that "the best thing that can be done for the sake of a balanced discourse is to develop a new language—a language about the concepts and language used in morality and politics". Hence one can easily develop a Lakoffian critique of Lakoff's proposed new language. Realists acknowledge the ugly truths about politics, again, that spin and rhetoric are what wins. And they hold that when one plays the game of politics, one must be out to win.
