Representatives do not care what their constituents think, they only care about the next election. They will generally stick to their party's line until it becomes obvious that they will lose their power at which time they will sway with the political winds. The intensity of the opposition expressed through phone, email, letters and meetings has shifted the winds and like palms in a hurricane the "vulnerable" politicians are shifting with them. The "safe" ones are ignoring at best and insulting at worst, not just the populace at large, but members of their own party who are not sticking to the party line. So, while they still don't care what they're constituents think, they do care how they'll vote.

Perhaps you and the woman who pitches tents to annoy Presidents could start your own party to give the disenfranchised majority something decent to vote for- finally. Wouldn't that be the "American" thing to do?