No, I get that he wants to remove "undue influence". I'm saying that he's not going to change anything because his plans don't essentially eliminate them from the system.
Its not practical to ban "lobbying", "special interests" and "lobbyists" as they are constitutionally protected. They are free to send all the marketing materials to politicians that they want. I did not consider this, for the purpose of our argument, "influencing the system". I was referring to removing direct influences on the system.
Removing them from the system means publicly financed elections and the destruction of the iron triangle. Short of that, lobbyists and special interests will always be part of the system, and will always have undue influence.
Obama's proposition goes something like this (paraphrasing): "choosing to put the American people's interests above the lobbyists". The problem with that statement is that it is up to each candidate and each politician to decide what issues are in the American people's interests and which aren't. Hell, I will even go so far as to say it might even work for the time Obama is in office, since at the moment it is politically advantageous to do so.
History has shown that unless the system is fundamentally changed, once people feel that the government has been reformed, and the Democrats have goodwill with the people, this will not last. It no longer becomes that politically advantageous to turn down lobbyist money, as it becomes worth more than keeping up the appearance of a "reformed government". At this point, everything will be back to the way that it is now.
Leaving any path where lobbyists are directly part of the system means that we have not fundamentally changed anything.
*EDIT: Forgot to finish my sentence on what removing them from the system meant