The entire reason that money is power in politics is that it buys votes. Money allows a candidate to get more airtime on TV and radio, travel to more towns to meet people and give speeches, spend more on campaign staff, buttons, and bumper stickers. Money determines who gets taken seriously by the media, and who gets left on the shoulder of the road. Yes it's votes that are important, but without money there ARE NO votes, which politicians know perfectly well.

The politicians need money for their campaigns, so they set up a PAC. The PAC then throws events and fundraisers for the politician: "come have a nice barbecue dinner and meet Representative Flootypants!" Lobbyists attend the barbecue and pay a donation to the PAC or directly to the Representative's campaign fund, as a "thank you" for the nice barbecue, and they spend a few minutes talking to Mr. Flootypants about his campaign, what they might be able to do to help. Maybe the lobbyist friend also mentions, in passing, some concern about the idea of greater financial regulation. The important thing though is that he really likes Mr. Flootypants and wants to help him retain his seat so he can continue to be a great leader. Perhaps they even mention that they could help gather and package contributions for such a wise man who helped lead the country so well.

So now the esteemed Congressman on the Finance Committee has a new friend, someone who is really helpful to him. After he wins the election 500 people want meetings with him, want to take an hour of his time in order to talk to him about important topics. Who's he going to meet with? Gramma Millie from Townsville in his district, who sent $20 in to his campaign and wants to talk about how her house got foreclosed on? Or his helpful friend who wants to help educate him on the finer points of the financial industry so that he can make a more informed decision, the guy who helped package $50,000 in donations and managed to get him introductions to three different corporate executives all of whom express an interest in having someone of the Representative's (or his spouse's) caliber sitting on their corporate board.

It's not even a contest. Money wins at every stage. That's why the ONLY issue that matters in politics is campaign finance reform. Until that gets worked out no other matter will ever get settled honestly.