That theory has been floating around for years...and it's bombed as often as worked.
It's kind of like the polls that show the majority of people are fed up with Congress and want a change...but don't disclose that many of those same people intend to vote for their incumbent.
True, true. When people complain about their Congresscritters, they're comparing that Congresscritter to some sort of perfect Platonic Form of a Congresscritter, and telling the pollster how close they think said Congresscritter is to that ideal.
Asking someone to choose between that same incumbent and a flesh-and-blood opponent is an entirely different question.