News stories this week focused on how little Congress has gotten done this term, noting the recent Department of Veterans Affairs compromise reform bill as a rare exception.

Two big issues were left as unfinished business by Congress — including a long-term fix for highway funding and immigration reform, despite the road and bridge fund being nearly out of money and 50,000 unaccompanied Latin American children being held along the border with Mexico.

One Associated Press article reporting on Congress and the approaching five-week summer recess described lawmakers as “rushing toward the exits.” And that certainly fits the image most voters have of this Congress, accomplishing little amid constant partisan sniping, yet still in a hurry to leave Washington, D.C., despite so many important issues left behind.

Many voters question lawmakers’ need for a vacation. The perception is that since lawmakers have accomplished so little in Washington, D.C., this year, why do they need a vacation?

Lawmakers respond by explaining that their summer recess is not a vacation, rather it is a time to connect with voters, learn more about local issues. But in an election year, it’s also time to campaign for re-election.

The reality that no member of Congress is willing to admit is that working on legislation, hearing testimony, or casting votes is not the biggest part of the job for a member of Congress. The real job is raising money — and getting re-elected.

Though the constant pressure to raise money is well-understood by most voters, a recently leaked memo to Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Michelle Nunn spells things out clearly. In the campaign strategy memo, written in late 2013 and leaked last month, Nunn is urged to spend 80 percent of her time raising money. It says, “Hitting our targets will require us to prioritize fundraising above all else and to focus the candidate’s time on it with relentless intensity.”

To help hit the campaign’s targets of $15 to $20 million, the memo also describes key groups to target for financial support while also adding suggestions about how the candidate should integrate different talking points to build support, whether from business groups, young professionals, trial lawyers or the technology industry. The candidate is urged to tailor speeches to focus on each group’s hot-button issues — whether it’s lowering corporate tax rates, boosting education standards, blocking tort reform or expanding visas for foreign techology workers.

The leaked memo sends the same message that most freshman lawmakers receive when they first arrive in Washington. Within weeks of inaguration in January, newly elected lawmakers are pressed to be hard at work raising money for re-election. New members of Congress are told by party officials that they should dedicate about four hours a day to fund raising, mostly making their calls from national party phone-bank facilities across the street from the Capitol building. The time spent dialing for dollars is esimated to be twice the amount of time the new lawmakers will spend sitting in committee hearings, talking with constituents or casting votes.

From Democrats and Republicans, the message is the same — get out there and raise money. If a lawmaker, especially a lawmaker expected to face a competitive race, falls short of the party’s quaterly money targets, he or she risks losing financial support from party national campaign committees.

So, while it’s true that Congress did not get much accomplished this year, the lawmakers leaving Washington soon are not going on vacation to sit on a beach or play golf four days a week. They are leaving the halls of Congress to work on getting re-elected, which means connecting with voters and raising money.

In Washington, the two parties are often portrayed as bitter rivals. But behind the scenes, they are all members of the same party — the incumbent party, each intent on money, winning elections and power.