A presidential campaign is a fine spectacle. If it is no more than that, for whatever reasons, it is time to ask why. When the republic was being arranged, the Federalist papers burrowed deeply into regions of political thought and meanings. Nearly two centuries later, the ordained rhythms of politics seem an end in themselves, concerned with a transition of parties and power but not a transition of reason or purpose. It is a troubling curtain raiser on our third century.