Ignore Frank Luntz. The Daily Beast might’ve just described him as the “Republicans’ Favorite Pollster,” but Luntz’s methodology — with dials and focus groups — measures the exact wrong thing.
You’ve probably seen his dog-and-pony show more than once. Here’s how Luntz hyped his “dial technology”:
It's like an X-ray that gets inside your head, and it picks out every single word, every single phrase [that you hear], and you know what works and what doesn't. And you do it without the bias of a focus group. People are quiet as they're listening, and they're reacting anonymously. The key to dial technology is that it's immediate, it's specific, and it's anonymous.
It works like this: A bunch of randos are given dials. When they hear something they like, they spin it one way; when they hear something they hate, they turn it the other.
Luntz then adds up all the data and tells you which phrases worked — and which ones bombed. It’s a cute, tidy, TV-friendly presentation.
And from it, Luntz extrapolates his professional feedback, including this criticism of President Trump’s State of the Union address:
This was a misstep.
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) February 25, 2026
Mocking the word ‘affordability’ when Americans are still feeling the squeeze at the grocery store is the kind of moment that clips badly.
That's the word Americans use.
Don't mock Americans. #SOTU2026 pic.twitter.com/EWw8lTfJca
Shortly thereafter, The Daily Beast notified its readers: “Republicans’ Favorite Pollster Rips Into Trump’s Big Gaffe.” Oh no! (Of course, since The Daily Beast specializes in comfort-fiction for leftists, it also twisted Luntz’s words, changing “misstep” to “grave error” in its opening sentence.)
And they’re not the only ones. Today, tomorrow, and the rest of the week, EVERYONE will be parsing Trump’s speech. We’ll hear all about the parts that worked, the parts that failed, and why it matters.
But it’s irrelevant data, because that’s not how voters make decisions!
The State of the Union address isn’t a series of individual moments magnified. Voters don’t critique and tabulate every utterance. That entire premise is goofy — and contrary to how audiences actually process information.
The midterms are still eight-plus months away!
We can’t “score” a speech like a prizefight. There’s no 10-point must system, where we add up all the rounds and declare a winner.
Instead, what matters are the long-term takeaways — the one or two things that crawl into our brains and linger.
It’s a short list. It ALWAYS is.
For Trump’s speech, there was one singular, defining moment that stood out above all else:
President Trump asked members of Congress to stand if they agree with his statement that the first duty of the U.S. government is to protect American citizens, not those in the country illegally.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 25, 2026
Trump said people who didn't stand should be "ashamed" of themselves. Some… pic.twitter.com/YIBp6QaAxS
That’s the biggest takeaway audiences will remember: In an us-versus-them world, the Republican Party is on the side of U.S. citizens, and the Democratic Party is on the side of illegal immigrants.
It’s the latest iteration of the “Democrats are for they/them, President Trump is for you” campaign that utterly annihilated Kamala Harris's 2024 presidential bid — and that’s not just my critique.
[T]he ad, with its vivid tagline — “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you” — broke through in Mr. Trump’s testing to an extent that stunned some of his aides.
[…]
[It] ranked as one of the Trump team’s most effective 30-second spots, according to an analysis by Future Forward, Ms. Harris’s leading super PAC. It shifted the race 2.7 percentage points in Mr. Trump’s favor after viewers watched it. [emphasis added]
Most in the media focused on the ad’s transgender/LGBTQ angle, but that wasn’t why it worked so splendidly. As usual, they missed the forest for the trees.
U.S. elections are either-or decision making — Democrats versus Republicans. In 2024, voters chose Trump because he was defending our interests, whereas Harris was fixated on fringe groups, fringe issues, and fringe causes.
The GOP stands for you and me. The Democrats stand for “they.”
The “they” may change. Yesterday, it was LGBTQ; today, it’s illegal immigrants.
But it’s still “us” versus “they.”
That one seminal, unforgettable moment in the State of the Union address — when Republicans leaped to their feet to defend the American people, and Democrats sat on their hands — perfectly captured the us-versus-they/them dichotomy. Because of the size of the SOTU audience, Trump might’ve reached more Americans over the last 24-hours than all the voters who saw the original “they/them” ad throughout the 2024 campaign.
And on social media, this SOTU moment will live forever: Millions more will watch it between now and Election Day.
Our memories are less about details and more about emotions. It’s not the individual words we hear or the language Trump uses — it’s how his words, language, and delivery make us feel.
The Republican Party enthusiastically stood for us, yet the Democrats didn’t stand at all. They didn’t stand for U.S. citizens, Olympic heroes, 100-year-old combat legends, Purple Heart winners, Medal of Honor recipients, or vulnerable children.
They booed, hissed, heckled, and made jackasses of themselves.
Here’s what the Democrats in Congress refused to stand for during the State of the Union:
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) February 25, 2026
Putting American citizens over illegal aliens
Voter ID laws
The murder rate at the lowest since 1900
Keeping violent criminals locked up
Protecting parental rights
Stopping fraud… https://t.co/XmAk3bZSzg
Trump’s speech wasn’t perfect, but it was perfectly tactical. His SOTU address would’ve been better received if it were twice as short — but because he didn’t finish ‘til 11:00 p.m., I’ll bet you a Diet Coke that Abigail Spanberger’s Democratic rebuttal was the least-watched “response speech” in SOTU history. By the time Trump was done, the TV audience was exhausted.
Had he delivered a Reaganesque 40-minute SOTU speech, Spanberger’s audience probably would’ve quadrupled in size.
Going (very, very) long was a smart tactical decision: It essentially eliminated the Dems’ rebuttal.
Because, one week from now — let alone, eight-plus months from now — nobody’s gonna remember ANYTHING Spanberger said. And with all due respect to Frank Luntz, nor will anyone remember how Trump specifically worded his “affordability” argument in a 107-minute speech.
It’s a stupid argument.
If the economy continues to improve, Americans will be happy. If it doesn’t, they won’t. It’s really that simple.
But they’ll always remember which party — and which president — stood with the American people. They’ll always remember how they felt when the U.S. hockey team, war heroes, and innocent children were recognized by a grateful nation.
And they’ll also remember which party stood for illegal immigrants… and absolutely nothing else.
Related: ABC Poll Stunner: Americans STILL Trust Trump More Than the Dems — and in Every Category, Too!
Editor’s Note: With President Trump back in the White House, the state of our Union is strong once again.
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