Bloggasm

The Twitter account for pollster Frank Luntz launched over a year ago and in that time period managed to gain 2,000 followers — a list that includes several politicians (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Vern Buchanan, Eric Cantor, Newt Gingrich) and major media figures (Howard Kurtz, George Stephanopoulos). It was also quoted in a Howard Kurtz Washington Post media column about Twitter (“Not surprisingly, I got plenty of reaction on the site. Pollster Frank Luntz said Twitter is ‘no gimmick, it’s the future.’”) As of this writing it has issued 111 tweets.

The only thing is, the account is a fake. It was launched and maintained by Brian Devine, an employee of New Media Strategies (where I also work). The account likely remained unnoticed by Luntz until just recently, when he was apparently contacted by Heritage Foundation employee Robert Bluey

“I was surprised that so many people thought it was real for a ridiculous amount of time,” Devine told me in an interview. “I was really surprised that so many people would take it authoritatively without any verification whatsoever.”

Devine said that he usually stayed away from publishing outrageous tweets, which may have contributed to the fact that the account remained intact for so long.

Devine is a former employee of Luntz — he worked as an associate project director for Luntz’s company for almost two years.

“I’m still friends with Frank, I still communicate with him occasionally,” he told me. “If he wants the Twitter account I’ll gladly hand it over. It was never meant to be malicious.”