Well, I agree with you that they are functionally the same. If we give money to the Red Cross we expect they’ll help people in disasters, if we give money to the R party or the D party we expect they’ll try and elect Rs and Ds.
But one does think that those running a charity are do-gooders while we know those who run PACs are just power hungry whores.
That’s what I see as the difference, but of course they are pretty much all power hungry whores.
Story of my life: I should have been a power hungry whore, but instead I became a chump.
Most “do-gooders” want somebody else’s money with which to “do good.”