Frank Luntz Knows "What Americans Really Want...Really"

Dr. Frank Luntz, author of What Americans Really Want...Really, told a skeptical Imus he had dreamed about appearing on his show for years.

"When you say something in the morning, people talk about it in the afternoon," said Luntz, proving why his first book was entitled Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear.

Luntz is frequently labeled a Republican pollster, but insisted his book What Americans Really Want...Really is nonpartisan and nonpolitical. Though he has worked for Republican politicians in the past, Luntz's work is now mostly corporate, and includes clients like Anheuser Busch, Lowe's, Federal Express, and News Corp.

Luntz's book asks a lot of questions, but today Imus had some of his own. First, how do the people who voted for President Obama feel about him?

"The American people like him as a person and they can relate to him, particularly with his wife and family," said Luntz. "But they don't like his policies."

The polls in Luntz's book were conducted anonymously using a random sample of Americans, and weighted by census data that accounted for education, income, age, and ethnicity. Some of the scariest data, as he saw it, pertained to peoples' savings.

"One-third of Americans, if they lost their jobs, are completely out of money in six weeks," he said. "That's why nobody is spending."

Imus, however, was stuck on the whole "anonymous" thing, and argued with Luntz that if he has somebody's email address, his or her identity is not entirely secretive.

"You can argue with me if you want, Frank," said Imus. "But I have cancer!"

Luntz bravely ignored the tattered host of this program and shared another interesting statistic: Americans who pray once a day and go to church or temple once a week are happier, healthier, spend more time with their families, like their jobs better, and are more optimistic about the future.

Imus observed that neither he nor Charles attends church regularly, but they still do good things for people, at which point Charles lied and said he goes to church every Sunday.

Since Imus asked, Luntz reported there are no prospects on the babe front because he works too much. Today's appearance with Imus might help his cause, since Imus in the Morning scores very well with 18-34-year olds.

"Then I'm set," he said. "Want to know what older men really want...really? A younger woman!"

-Julie Kanfer