You'd have to be naive to say money has no impact on what happens in Washington, but I think it's generally overplayed. But we accept, promulgate, broadcast and analyze the reformers' central message, which is that money is the root of all evil. And the root of much investigative journalism as well. Whatever the controversy, they are quick to pull back the curtain on who's giving what to whom. Take the legislation signed by Bush to tighten bankruptcy laws.
Ideology is a much simpler and more plausible explanation.
That way of thinking makes these guys puppets of various interest groups. It makes it sound sinister. The press, of course, loves scandal, or the appearance thereof. The companies that are giving are not philanthropic institutions, much as they'd like to convince us they are donating hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars because they believe in the lofty goal of good government. Television usually plays down the fact that a river of soft money flows to TV stations for campaign ads, making the industry a beneficiary of the current system.