Do special interest groups hurt candidates?
Do special interest groups hurt candidates? When you’ve got a group of people who share similar ideas, you’ve got yourself a special interest group. And when everyone in your group works together to persuade politicians to legislate in your group’s best interests, you’ve got power. Special interest groups come in all shapes and sizes and cover topics in which many people are interested — like the payday loan industry and tobacco companies — to more specialized organizations, like the bands and orchestras lobby [source: Follow The Money]. When a few separate groups join together and hire a third party to speak for them you’ve got a lobby. Lobbyists are people who meet with legislators on behalf of the people who pay them. Take, for example, the gun lobby. The National Rifle Association and arms manufacturers want to protect the Second Amendment, which gives Americans
