How a 'problem' for Americans becomes an 'opportunity' for politicians
鈥淎n opportunity, not a problem.鈥� A popular political spin move that seeks to diminish the significance of a current or looming concern.
Politics, of course, is all about projecting optimism. And increasingly, politicians in both parties have adopted 鈥� either publicly or tacitly 鈥� the of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D): 鈥淵ou never want a serious crisis to go to waste.鈥� That鈥檚 because, according to the former House member and White House chief of staff, 鈥渋t鈥檚 an opportunity to do things you could not do before.鈥�
In his first major economic speech in February, Jeb Bush 鈥� an issue on which he differs dramatically from the GOP鈥檚 conservative base 鈥� as 鈥渁 huge opportunity 鈥� not a problem.鈥� In outlining his desire for annual economic growth of at least 4 percent, the ex-Florida governor said: 鈥淲hile the political fights go on, we鈥檙e missing this opportunity. I view fixing a broken system as a huge opportunity to get to that 4 percent growth.鈥�
More recently, The New York Times whether Texas鈥檚 economic woes 鈥� the state lost 25,000 jobs in March, and the oil industry has coped with slumping prices for that commodity 鈥� could hurt former Gov. Rick Perry politically. Mr. Perry has made the Lone Star State鈥檚 growth a cornerstone of his 2016 campaign. Not to worry, said Avik Roy, a senior adviser to Perry鈥檚 political action committee: 鈥淚t鈥檚 an opportunity, not a problem, because if the Texas economy continues to do reasonably well, even though the energy sector gets hit, that is only going to strengthen his case, not weaken it.鈥�
At the same time, Mollie Hemingway, a senior editor at The Federalist, shrugged off the idea that the ever-growing Republican presidential field is too large. Appearing on CNN recently, Hemingway 鈥淚 just completely reject the idea that this is a problem to be solved. This is a tremendous journalistic opportunity.... Even candidates who seem maybe to us a little less legitimate might have really good ideas on a particular policy issue.鈥�
None of this is really new. In his 1991 book, 鈥淪leepwalking Through History: America in the Reagan Years,鈥� journalist Haynes Johnson wrote that Ronald Reagan鈥檚 budget guru David Stockman the implicit failure of supply-side economic theory 鈥渁s an opportunity, not a problem. It provided a chance to have gigantic tax cuts and military increases 鈥� yet also dismantle despised social welfare programs that had accumulated since the New Deal.鈥� And in 2000, Bill Clinton described the longer ages Americans were living as a 鈥渉igh-class problem,鈥� but added: 鈥淭he older I get, the more I see that as an opportunity, not a problem.鈥�
Chuck McCutcheon and David Mark write their "Speaking Politics" blog exclusively for Politics Voices.聽
