It takes a lot of money to win a seat in Congress, whether you solicit the wealthy for big checks, or self-finance your bid with personal wealth, a practice Public Campaign's Nancy Watzman profiles in this piece on TomPaine.com.  Result: a Congress disproportionately comprised of the wealthy and those friendly to the wealthy. 

When, as Nancy points out, winning a Senate seat costs $7.2 million, and winning a place in House costs $1 million the field of people who can run is limited - to those with wealthy friends, or those who can write themselves a check. It's fair to say they may not have a full understanding of the needs of the average Americans. But when you have a Clean Elections option available, suddenly the bias against the non-wealthy is greatly reduced and a greater diversity of candidates can seek office.