For one thing, I am far from a politician. "Special influence" is perfectly legal the way things are set up now. Unless you have plenty of your own money to campaign, you've got to take someone else's. That doesn't necessarily mean you are corrupt. But you're bound to be at least "aware" of who gave you money, and you probably take their phone calls. When was the last time someone gave you a couple of thousand dollars just for nothing? We need a system where legislators can run without taking anyone's money. Then even the good guys will have no possibility of the appearance of being influenced, and the bad guys will have a harder time being corrupt.