The campaign of 2016 was full of promises.

Career politicians who had spent most of their adult life in Washington, D.C. promised to be agents of change, ignoring the fact that they had failed to bring change as of yet.

Governors promised to work the same miracles for America that they had in their home states, ignoring the fact that most states have very little in common with the federal government.

Business people promised to "run government like a business," ignoring the fact that government is not a business, doesn't produce anything and relies on taxpayers for revenue.

Promises to erase the deficit, cut taxes, repeal Obamacare, build a wall, defeat the Islamic State group and the list goes on and on.

Editorial Cartoons on President Trump and the Media View All 22 Images

In the end, the voters settled on a business man turned reality TV show host to lead our nation. They bought into his ego, his braggadociousness, his bellicose rhetoric and they hoisted him into the Oval Office. He was the ultimate outsider who promised to change the way Washington does things, who "says it like it is" and who would "Make America Great Again."

Voters didn't bother much with the fine print. They liked the idea of someone who would toss a hand grenade into our dysfunctional capital city and force the players there to change the way they do business.

Trump, to many voters, was like a lottery ticket. They didn't really expect to win. They hoped to win. But if they voted for him and he turned out to be like all the others who had let them down before, they wouldn't be any worse off. So, it was worth a shot.

Five months into his presidency, Washington is just as dysfunctional as ever. Republicans are fighting among themselves. Some openly battling with one another, but many shrugging their shoulders and hoping each day that the worst is behind us. The Democrats can't seem to find their voice as the opposition party. On a daily basis they continue to prosecute the same campaign that didn't work against Trump in the election: He's unstable, not fit for office.

Once respected institutions like the judiciary and the FBI have come under attack from our own leaders.

And Washington has become consumed by the daily Twitter proclamations coming from our commander-in-chief as the White House staff decides on a daily basis whether the words of the president are legitimate news of the day or not.

On Thursday, Washington was paralyzed by the testimony of former FBI chief James Comey in front of a Senate committee investigating Russia's involvement in the 2016 campaign. Bars opened early and sold special drinks to patrons riveted by the testimony.

I only spend part of my time in Washington these days. Much of my time I spend in Colorado, which, in a week like this, feels a million miles away from the Beltway. And I can't help thinking of the people there, who are not riveted to a television watching C-Span, but are instead going about their day, working, taking the kids to day camp, doing the laundry, mowing the grass and wishing for more from their elected officials.

I can't help wondering what isn't getting done for the people who were so hopeful for big change and whose questions from 2016 haven't gone away:

"What are you going to do to make my health care more affordable?"

"What are you going to do about the opioid epidemic in this country that is destroying families, hurting children and taking lives?"

"What are you going to do to make it possible for my child to go to college without saddling herself with a mountain of debt?"

"What can you do to defeat radical Islamic terrorism and protect our American way of life?"

In this daily game of gotcha that plays out on cable news and social media, everything is measured in terms of how it is going to affect those in power and how it will affect each party's fortunes in the next election.

What gets lost is that elections are decided by people. People who are struggling. People who need their government to function properly and find solutions instead of political wins.

More and more when I come to Washington, it feels like those who are here have forgotten why they came.

Yesterday the Freedom Caucus announced a push to keep Congress here in Washington through the August recess and "keep working."

If you ask me, the last thing our elected representatives need is more time bickering with each other in Washington, D.C.

They need a month at home. They need to hold town hall meetings that are well-attended by voters. They need to hear from the people who sent them to these hallowed halls to represent them, to be their voice, to be their advocate.