Frank Luntz has been advising Senate Democrats, both as a group and in special sessions with Harry Reid.
Digby, it very nearly goes without saying, has the definitive take on what this means for America's public discourse. What interests me is why the Democrats would want to rely on Frank Luntz. Why DC is wired to privilege the conservative point of view - not just a right-of-center view, but insane, unhinged from reality rantings about ludicrous conspiracy theories, calls to violence against fellow Americans, constant warmongering, worship-the-rich economics with a heaping side helping of the worst delusions of Randian libertarians; it can't just be from all the whining conservatives have done about the so-called liberal media.
The only answer I can come up with is that with just a few exceptions, the Democrats in the Senate are simply more conservative than I am - and almost certainly more conservative than you, no matter who you are. In fact, if your position on America's political spectrum is anywhere at all to the left of "straight-up conservative," then the Democrats in the Senate are more conservative than you. This is especially true of our famously anti-choice, anti-same-sex marriage Majority Leader.
Senate Democrats enthusiastically supported Bush's warmongering, the Patriot Act, DOMA, the "partial-birth abortion" ban. A Democratic Senator is always available to worry on TV about the deficit, to bash unions, to offer his unqualified support for the bankers' regime in DC.
For the pedantically inclined, of course not every Democrat in the Senate does this. Anyone who makes this point in comments will be ridiculed mercilessly. The point is that the majority of them are what would be called, in a less dysfunctional political system, conservatives - and not only that, but more conservative than solid majorities of the American public, who want to get rid of DADT, institute a government health care plan, preserve and strengthen social security, keep abortion legal, get us out of Iraq, etc.
There's been quite a bit of discussion about how the Senate is institutionally designed to impede progress. But the plain fact is that Harry Reid has a lot of power - and the knowledge and skills - to move legislation forward when he wants to. It's just what when it comes to truly progressive legislation, he doesn't want to, and few members of the Democratic Caucus care enough about progressive policies to put any pressure on him. So we can go two ways: transform the Senate's rules, procedures and most imporantly, its privileges, or transform the Democrats in the Senate. Neither option is attractive, but ISTM that primaries will be more effective than trying to remake The World's Greatest Most Ridiculous Deliberative Body
