Earlier quoted context omitted.
I guess having followed US politics for the last two decades has taught me nothing. I'm sure it's all attributable to "The Government" being sinister and evil.
My point is that you have no basis for your claim re: lobbyists and campaign funding. Use of government-granted monopolies to achieve particular ends predates modern media, and campaign funding was a much less pivotal issue back in the day when all the money in the world wouldn't buy you anything more than a newspaper ad.
You can't honestly think the billion dollars required to become president doesn't come with strings attached.
Money buys you influence. Don't think advertising is entirely in terms of media. Campaigns need a lot of people involved, and many of those people have to get paid. Modern media just means you need to spend even more money than you did before.