As the 2012 election proved, all the money and influence in the world won't win elections, if you're pimping a candidate and an agenda the base doesn't believe in.
Bottom line, it takes votes to win elections. Shut your base out, and the winning margin of voters stays home.
You’re absolutely right. The problem is the huge division between the people with the money and the base. In the Dems, there is no such division. Both their base and their big money donors like Soros are openly socialist.