So if, say, 100,000 Joe Smiths give $2700 for a total of $270,000,000, that wouldn't constitute "buying" a politician?
Depends on Which "Critical Thinking" Sounds Truthier
It would be the equivalent of giving every millionaire a million votes, and then claim that is justified because a million people with only one dollar each can cancel his vote. Plutelickers always make up unrealistic requirements to nullify their Masters' tyranny.
First of all, your analogy is flawed. You're comparing votes to dollars, i.e., the millionaire gets a million
votes whereas a million people get a million
dollars. Secondly, it has absolutely nothing to do with my point. The issue here with critics of the NRA seems to be the exorbitant amount of money spent by the NRA on campaign ads and cnm seems to think this is corruption and buying politicians. So speaking strictly in terms of amounts of money, if 32 million by the NRA is corruption then so is 32 million by multiple individuals.
But let's say for the sake of argument we do away with PACs and donations from lobby groups and corporations etc. and everyone is restricted to $2700 individually. Guess what? Even though it may seem that the playing field is leveled and no one is allowed to pay more than that, the average American can't afford to pay even that much. Some can't afford to pay anything. So once again the more affluent have more influence on elections.
If we restrict it even further to where no one may pay anything and the entire burden of cost is on the candidate, well then, the obvious happens and only the more affluent candidates will even be able to run.
The playing field will
never be level and will
always favor those with more money.