re: Despite grousing voters rarely fire incumbents

There is also name recognition and directly connected to this is the campaign budgets of incumbents. They also get name recognition for pork and legitimate spending coverage in the local press. They also get press coverage for citizen meetings when they swing through the district. I believe they also have budgets to send out news letters and emails to constituents.

Another big factor that enhances the popularity of the local congressman is their ability to get things done for the locals. Problem with passports, or ssi, or va, etc. - a lot of people will ask for and get the assistance of their congressman to resolve the issue. Their staffs can be really good at this.