I was browsing through my RSS feeds today and saw a quote on Howard Dean's blog that said something along the lines of
We want to raise $200 million to match Bush's $200 million given to him by special interests. Help us take back the country from special interests by donating $10 now!"
The thing that bugs me about these statements isn't the money, but it's the idea of "Vote for me to fight special interests!" Is there any politician in the last century who has not used the boogieman of special interests in a campaign? When do groups of people stop being groups of citizens and start being evil special interests? Is the AARP a special interest group? (I would argue that they are.) Is a group of concerned citizens about issue X a special interest group? Where do citizen groups end and special interests begin? I guess the thing that bugs me is that I see these types of phrases everywhere and they seem so devoid of any actual meaning. Are Dean's union supporters special interests?