&gt;They get seats by spending money on campaigns. Public is easily manipulated by political marketing. The only thing that could put them out of there seats would be more money spent for a smear campaign against them.<p>This is overly simplistic. If it were <i>exclusively</i> about cash resources, the most cash-rich candidates would win every time. We know that doesn&#x27;t happen. Yes, money does play an important role (because it costs money to run ads, print signage, get people to hang said signage, staff phone banks, etc. -- not because there&#x27;s some reptilian overlord that has to be paid before he lets you become POTUS), but it&#x27;s not the <i>only</i> role.<p>More important than money is to control a media outlet that the general public trusts. Pundits have more power than politicians because it&#x27;s so easy for them to generate outrage. ABC, CBS, NBC, and the cable channels really hold the bulk of political sway in this country. They can frame not only the political discourse, but all significant social discourse, in the terms that they prefer. The internet is dampening and decentralizing their power a bit, which is why non-establishment candidates like Ron Paul and Bernie Sanders were able to gain any traction at all, but their influence is still massive.