Sittin' up on Capitol Hill

I lobbied Congress yesterday. I'm going to do it again today, and a little bit more tomorrow.
I haven't quite wrapped my mind around that fact yet.
We're lobbying for good things - funding for the basic sciences, particularly high energy physics. It's not like anyone is going to tell us that science is a bad thing. It may not be their priority, but it's not like cigarettes or anything. Yay, science.
I lobbied Congress. I'm a congressional lobbyist. I can't quite get my mind around that. As I was walking from the House side of Capitol Hill to the Senate side, and I passed the steps of the Supreme Court. I had a flashback to the last time I was there, about eight years ago. The WWII memorial hadn't been built yet, and the Washington Monument was still covered in scaffolding. I was in high school, 14 years old. I won the trip in a school essay contest. It was one of those massive see-everything-ever trips that made sure you hit every major attraction in four days. They did a really good job of that - I don't feel like there's anything I need to go back and see this time. I'm no longer a tourist in Washington, DC.
I remember standing on the steps of the Supreme Court then. There were a few important people in suits milling around (I assumed they were important because they were wearing suits) and a lot of tourists. I was one of the latter, a giggling schoolgirl taking crazy pictures. I never thought I'd be one of those people in suits. Yet today I was mildly irritated with the giggling schoolgirls.
I've never considered politics as a career. I'm cranky, and in general, I don't like people. This is why science works for me. And yet here I am. I lobbied about 7 offices yesterday; I met with junior staffers, important staffers, and a Congressman. I was in the Senate building at the same time as Al Gore.
I'm massively confused. Does this mean the political system has some good points? A real live person, not a politician, made it to the steps of Congress. Should I be cueing the small world music? Can anyone tell me how the hell this happened?
I have no clue. It's my job for the next two days to tell Congressmen that science is cool. Luckily it's true. How do the real lobbyists do it?