Hillary Clinton's Double Standard

The subject title of this OP is a commentary written by Steve Chapman in today's Chicago Tribune, linked below:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chapman/ct-hillary-clinton-foundation-campaign-finance-reform-perspec-0426-jm-20150424-column.html

Although a conservative, Steve Chapman isn't a Republican hack. He came out strongly against the invasion of Iraq before it was launched, and more recently he wrote some very good columns taking down the R's who wrote the letter to Iran and oppose any potential deal over their nuclear program.

Normally I wouldn't write a letter to the editor or start a thread based on most of the content of the commentary linked above. That Hillary's huge campaign war chest is at odds with her recent call for a constitutional amendment to get money out of politics is fairly obvious. However, I just had to respond to his paragraph bolded below in my letter.

My LTTE, just sent:

Steve Chapman wrote in his April 26 Perspective (Hillary Clinton's Double Standard): "Money doesn't buy votes. What it buys is the means to communicate ideas to voters. If those ideas, or the candidates advocating them, aren't compelling, the money is wasted." Has Mr. Chapman ever seen a political commercial on TV and evaluated the content of the ideas presented therein? These commercials are "compelling" to the extent dishonest propaganda influences voters. Huge sums of money would not be spent if it had no effect. Professional marketers know how to manipulate perceptions, whether it's to sell a product or a politician.

The influence of big money in our political system and legislative process goes well beyond who wins a particular election. Politicians in either party can rarely get elected without increasingly large campaign war chests and constant fund raising. Billionaires who spend millions on elections and lobbyists expect and receive favorable government policies. The growing chasm of wealth disparity in the United States is the direct result of money purchasing political power.

This is not what our nation's Founders had in mind. The informed consent of the governed has been supplanted by a misinformed electorate manipulated into voting (if they bother) against their own interests. When money equals speech, many "compelling ideas" are crafted by a few with the deepest pockets. Our great experiment in democracy will ultimately fail if we don't rein in the power of money in politics.