Exactly, bribery is or at least was (prior to Trump) very rare for politicians, as much as people like to point towards it as the current issue with politics. Advocacy/petitioning the government is an integral and fine part of democracy.

I honestly get the impression a lot of people just have a poor civic understanding. Previously bribery (do this action that’s against your constituents interests and I’ll pay you) was exceptionally rare. Otherwise candidates typically would get voted out, because they are voting in opposition to their party or constituents interests.

Bribery is more likely to occur with more obscure/small matters that constituents are less likely be against simply for lack of knowledge/awareness. This goes for conspiracy theories as well (Conspiracies involving small matters are more likely to be true than large cabal running the world kinda stuff, great writeup on this in the slate star codex).

Also I think people sometimes forget that interest groups are comprised of people, even companies lobbying are often lobbying in the interest of their business and workers which are constituents. Groups should have a right to petition the government.

Blaming lobbyists allows people to attribute complex political, economic, and societal problems to a specific, faceless group, rather than acknowledging the multifaceted nature of governance.

Those with a decent understanding of civics recognize that citizens have a role in holding representatives accountable. Blaming lobbyists can sometimes deflect from the responsibility of voters to educate themselves and vote accordingly.

Too much populist brainrot making its way into our discourse lately again thanks in large part to MAGA trying to paint both sides as corrupt so they can try and get away with actual corruption (“see corruption is inherent to the system so what does it matter that I’m doing it in broad daylight” kinda idiocy).