"Ah yes, I had forgotten the true meaning of incumbency. Thank you for reminding me."
Oh, cut it out. You are being one of those sanctimonious types, and mighty cynical too. I guess you think all politicians, even all of the Pub ones, are just on the take, are privileged and don't work hard. If they don't fundraise and gladhand, they will be out of a job and their constituents will be irritated that they aren't paying any attention to them. Maybe you just don't understand politics and how it works, or maybe you just look on the dark side of everything. Go tell Tom DeLay that he doesn't work hard enough or Tancredo, or Brownback, or a myriad of others. You can be cynical, but I'm not totally gone yet. I still believe there are those that get into politics as service to their country and because they believe in certain principles, at least most of the Pub ones do, and even, I suppose, some Dems.
Go run for office yourself and see how you would do. You fly back and forth week after week between the state you represent and Wash. DC. You go fundraise constantly, eating a thousand rubber chicken dinners and gladhanding everyone, you sit in an office and deal with constituent complaints. You go to all of the meetings, make all of the votes on the floor, be constantly running from one place to another, and at the same time trying to maintain some kind of family life. And you go through all the work involved in running a compaign to stay in office, and waiting it out on election nite to see if you even have a job the next day. You take that risk. And then the politicians have crabby, cranky, cynical, whining, complaining, and snide remark making constituents like yourself to deal with. Yes indeed you don't know the meaning of incumbency, and what is involved in keeping it. You just sit on the sidelines and snipe.
flaglady,
I know a half-dozen people personally who work harder, don't know if they'll have a job the next DAY, and get none of the glory that Congressmen get.
If you're trying to make me feel sorry for them, it's not working. They are servants of the people, and yes, it's a hard job, but it's many times more luxurious than what a lot of people have to do to get by. Family life? At least the Senate doesn't have third shift.
And they get job security for 2 to 6 years a pop, and given how non-competitive races have become in most districts, it's likely longer than that. And frankly, I'm disappointed with both my senators ("Gang of 14" DeWine and "Crying Eyes" Voinovich) both of whom have barely had to lift a finger to get re-elected the past few years. My district rep (Boehner, R-OH) is generally good.
Bottom line: Hard job, yes, but gloriously sacrificing and heroics-inducing job? Not quite!