Those Damn Evil Special Interests

Those damn “special interests”

It’s election time, again, and the voice of the candidate is heard in the land.

Every candidate whose commercials I have heard, whether for election or re-election, decries “special interests”. Their opponent is in thrall to special interests, the other guy (or gal) is in the pocket of these special interests and, the voter is assured that this office seeker will never allow those nasty folks interfere with his or her dedication to the public good.

Who are these “special interests”? How do they keep corrupting office holders if those seeking public office are determined to ignore them?

They are us!

A special interest group is an organized group that does not put up individuals for election, but seeks to influence government policy or legislation. They are often termed Political Pressure groups or groups with a “vested interest”. In reality, these groups, organizations or individuals are merely exercising their rights under the First Amendment of the Constitution. The right to petition the government for a redress of grievances or to present a political point of view is guaranteed.

In this country, the term has a pejorative connotation as if a group advocating a particular point of view is, by its nature, in conflict with the interests of the public at large. Recently, for instance, Arnold Schwarzenegger often used these terms in his successful 2003 campaign for Governor of California. He waved a broom promising to "sweep clean" the government of special interests, implying that these "interests" were dirty.

In our local political arena, “bad” special interest groups are those representing developers, insurance companies, utilities and such. But these groups do not always have interests in opposition to that of the public at large. Developers are engaged in the construction of homes and offices, without which the economy would wither and die. Insurance companies provide protection against loss caused by one’s own carelessness of by acts of God.