Why 'common sense' is so popular with politicians, at least in their rhetoric
But one politician鈥檚 common sense is another鈥檚 nonsense.
Rep. Paul Ryan (R) of Wisconsin (c.) leaves a meeting about his bid to be the next speaker of the House with moderate members of the House Republican caucus on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 22, 2015.
Joshua Roberts/Reuters
鈥淐ommon sense.鈥� The label that politicians apply to policies they鈥檙e trying to sell that aren鈥檛 automatically popular with the public or others in their party.
It鈥檚 a deliberately vague form of rebranding intended to make any idea seem like a safe, sensible no-brainer 鈥� and it鈥檚 a term you can expect to hear a lot more of if, as expected, Rep. Paul Ryan (R) of Wisconsin becomes the new House speaker.
鈥淲e can show the country what a common-sense conservative agenda looks like,鈥� Ryan in announcing he would run to succeed retiring Ohio Rep. John Boehner in the job that Ryan initially had spurned. In an earlier statement, he : 鈥淢ake no mistake: I believe that the ideas and principles of results-driven, common-sense conservatism are the keys to a better tomorrow 鈥� a tomorrow in which all of God鈥檚 children will be better off than they are today.鈥�
As innocuous as such statements might sound, they still have drawn criticism. Paul Mirengoff, writing on the conservative blog PowerLine, the current Ways and Means Committee chairman of falling 鈥渋nto the trap that enables liberalism. He wants to do big things. He can do no big thing that is genuinely conservative because, to date and probably for the foreseeable future, the Democrats stand steadfastly in the way.鈥�
鈥淐ommon sense鈥� has long been a common Ryan term. In January, he the House鈥檚 passage of a bill aimed at easing the export of liquefied natural gas as 鈥渃ommon-sense energy legislation.鈥� While campaigning as Mitt Romney鈥檚 running mate in October 2012, he touted Romney鈥檚 record in blue-state Massachusetts: 鈥淭his is the kind of climate and cooperation and common-sense reforms we need in Washington.鈥� And in their 2010 book 鈥淵oung Guns,鈥� he and his friends/co-authors Rep. Eric Cantor and Rep. Kevin McCarthy put their theme : 鈥淚t鈥檚 time to move the country forward with a clear agenda based on common sense for the common good.鈥�
鈥淐ommon sense鈥� also is enduringly popular with other lawmakers: In addition to being nonspecific, it invokes Thomas Paine鈥檚 of the same name. The Sunlight Foundation鈥檚 CapitolWords.org shows that its has been steady over the last two decades, and split almost exactly evenly between the two parties. Its use soared during the first year of President Obama鈥檚 term, when Democrats were trying to push through a variety of bills that they said fit the description of common sense. Obama himself has talked wistfully of a of Republicans who might be willing to bolt from their party to work with him.
But one politician鈥檚 common sense, of course, is another鈥檚 nonsense. One example is gun control, arguably the most prominent of Democratic political-marketing efforts. Obama and others in his party the common-sense label in attempting to draw a distinction from previous efforts to ban all popular weapons and instead move toward what they regard as more limited, pragmatic steps. But Republicans have , and remain adamantly opposed to any gun-control legislation.
Chuck McCutcheon writes his "Speaking Politics" blog exclusively for Politics Voices.