The vast majority of voters are not that dialed in to politics. They vote for names they recognize, or the name next to the D or R that they support. Name recognition is a commodity you can buy with money. If you asked a candidate whether they would rather have a billionaire donor or 10,000 volunteers, guarantee they would all pick the billionaire.
They need votes to win first, and if there are voters that would block their victory they would have to accommodate them too.
As for bribes that’s another issue and we need to keep their feet to fire and not allow
The vast majority of voters are not that dialed in to politics. They vote for names they recognize, or the name next to the D or R that they support. Name recognition is a commodity you can buy with money. If you asked a candidate whether they would rather have a billionaire donor or 10,000 volunteers, guarantee they would all pick the billionaire.