Forms of power are fungible in nearly all societies.

That's not actually true. Why didn't Bloomberg win the primary this year, for all his money?

I said that different sorts of power were fungible. I did not say that a specific sum can be used to acquire a highly specific office by any particular individual. It's entirely possible to use vast wealth inefficiently and fail to acquire political power or influence.

It's possible to use the same wealth efficiently to pay individuals to study the problem of which individuals to contribute to in order to acquire increasing and undue influence.

Your argument is that you shot at someone five times and failed to injure them thus guns doing kill people.

He didn't, but with his donations to the DNC and the creation of Hawkfish, he'll have an inordinate amount of power in the direction of the party for years to come regardless because of his money.

He still got more votes and media attention than any private citizen of average wealth possibly could expect.

How did Bloomberg get into the primary this year, as opposed to say, you?