"contributions from interested parties" equals vote-buying, and it results in a corrupted process where the richest elements in society get what they want in government.

It would be better if all candidates were funded equally (and modestly) from the public purse, and all got exactly the same amount of neutral media coverage during a campaign, so they could fairly present themselves and their ideas without being slandered and demonized. That would be a fair and uncorrupted system. It would also be: socialism! (gasp!)