Congressional Candidates

Valuable insight applicable to legislative candidates at both the federal and state levels comes indirectly from the writings and speeches of President (and, of course, former Congressman) Abraham Lincoln. Obviously, the acute seriousness of mass lawbreaking of tens of millions of young people today does not approach the dire circumstances of the rebellion that split the nation during the Civil War. However, Abraham Lincoln’s statement on suppressing rebellion applies in a broad context. Applicable to future generations, the message in his quotation still holds true. In any mass conflict among an educated and prosperous people, the antidote to lawlessness and the use of force lies in fair elections. America does not lack for leaders. It does lack a system of elections—and the popular civic knowledge to accompany it—that is sufficiently fair for the complex demands of the Digital Age. Full Representation (covered on the next page) is exactly such a system. It allows candidates to run fairly on a level playing field. And it doesn't favor incumbents and parties who have rigged congressional district boundaries through gerrymandering to make sure that their favored candidate gets an unfair advantage.