It can be and is, however, often quite direct and even blunt. Those who contribute have a wide variety of motives, including friendship, ideological communion, the desire for access, and, of course, shadier reasons. On both sides of the process, the interaction is scarcely ennobling. Nor does it seem to add a great deal of substance to the formulation of public policy. Indeed, one can argue that, in some cases, the effects of fund-raising are very negative.
Politicians generally hate the process.
On the other side of the equation, givers easily can conclude that those they support are merely in it for the money or obsessed with the dollars needed for campaigns. The reality, of course, is more complicated and individualistic. But it is a real price we pay in our system. There have been attempts to remedy the situation, most notably through the introduction of public financing for campaign expenditures. The most visible example of this reform is at the level of presidential campaigns.