<i>Your statements aren't backed up by the facts.</i><p>Sure they are.<p><i>According to opensecrets.org a big ol' scary mega-rich industry such as oil and gas has so many "orders of magnitude" more money to throw around and so many disproportionate connections in Washington compared to, say, teachers and education interests that they managed to overspend said education interests by a whopping... 37% over the last 2 decades.</i><p>You're conflating available capital with actual money needed to win.  Suppose we're playing cards.  If you've got $100 in your pocket and I've got $1000, I can browbeat you out of the game <i>without</i> spending my whole $1000.  I only need to spend until you're out of money or, to mix metaphors, until I've bought up all the TV time and drowned out your contributions with the relevant congress members.