"They have, therefore, become more responsive to big-money contributors and political machines than to constituents."

The common theme to the charges Mr. D'Amato faced before the Ethics Committee was that he had used his office to seek special favors for relatives, friends and big-money contributors.

That's small change compared with the cost of what you call our current system, the "mortgaging of government to big-money contributors."

But the alternative is worse: noncompetitive elections and further mortgaging of government to big-money contributors.

"Thank God we're a capitalist society and there's nothing wrong with running after money," he exulted before the politicians, speaking not just as a pipeline promoter but as a proud bipartisan big-money contributor.

But other Democrats have noted that some big-money contributors are holding out on committing themselves as long as Mr. Cuomo's candidacy remains a possibility.

The evil of big-money contributors was not so clear to Mr. Brown two years ago.

For Mr. Bush, the strategy of inviting the fund-raisers and some big-money contributors to visit Austin has paid dazzling dividends.

It's not a perfect system; big-money contributors continue to give unregulated millions in "sewer money" to state party organizations, which then funnel it to their national candidates.

Other two-time, $10,000 contributors are also big-money contributors to the Democratic National Committee.