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Notes -
I suspect you're correct.
I've had a number of friends who have interned with congressmen and the like, and a common report of the experience is returning constituent mail, with the common theme being the general thanklessness of it, and how it was basically useless work pawned off on interns.
Earlier this year I read Path to Power, the first book in Robert Caro's series about LBJ.
I guess LBJ became a congressional staffer pretty shortly after college.
Apparently he attacked constituent mail with particularly uncommon zeal.
If you were writing your congressman about veteran's benefits, or something, and your letter happened to show up on LBJ's desk, you were in luck, he made a point to figure out who the best person to talk to cut through the government bureaucracy help you out.
The book is modestly handwavy about the exact mechanics of it, but I guess in the fanaticism he showed handling constituent mail, he was able to build a reputation as a helpful person in Washington to take your problems to, and various business people are always on the look out for people to take their problems to.
And those people wound up being the key supporters LBJ needed for his rise...
Anyway, I guess that's one of the big themes of Caro's book, that LBJ had something of a gift for see the potential for power, where other people didn't.
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