Special Interests and the City on a Hill

Political parties,” Gary Hart told the Alabama Legislature during the primary season, “must free themselves from the grasp of the special interests and once again address the country’s national interests.” There is no doubt that he struck a sympathetic chord and that everyone knew the identity of the villainous force threatening the “national interest.” Hart was not alone in his worries. After the New York primaries James Reston noted Walter Mondale’s...