People don’t go into politics for the paycheck because only the wealthy and the incumbents have the ability to sustain a months-long campaign. That’s the real reason we have people in Washington who represent Wall Street instead of Main Street.
Indeed, campaigns should be in the public interest. Nobody should be able to accept donations from anyone for a run for office. They should receive budgets from the FEC and it should be illegal to use any money for the campaign above and beyond that, even their own. That would solve a lot of problems. Run out? Tough. This eliminates an awful lot of conflicts of interest and allows candidates to run on their own merits.
