"We Bought It. We Built It. We Paid for It."

"The debate left the Panama Canal undamaged, even thriving, but it scarred American politics. The right went after senators like Mr. McIntyre and Frank Church, a Democratic senator from Idaho, with attacks financed by a new wrinkle in campaigning: political action committees with independent-sounding names and no accountability to voters. The tactic foreshadowed single-issue attacks over issues from abortion to gun control.
"Pre-emptive attacks on incumbents before any opponents are even running against them, like the ones that wounded Mr. Church, are now commonplace. The ideological nature of today’s politics also has its roots in the debate over the canal; treaty foes sought to punish moderate Republicans, too."

Adam Clymer in The New York Times looks back thirty years to the debate about the turnover of the Panama Canal.