Support candidates who help us come together

Abraham Lincoln's words still ring true today. In the 1830s, he said that danger to the United States would not come from from a "transatlantic military giant" but rather from forces that must "spring up amongst us." Lincoln declared, "If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide."

It appears we have stopped being a nation that solves problems for the general welfare and are now stuck in perpetual partisan gridlock going so far as to kill good ideas if they are not our own or the ideas of a special interest that we identify with. We have become a country bent on settling for mediocrity for all, instead of reaching for greatness and opportunity.

On Feb. 22, 1842, Lincoln said the following to the first large gathering of the Springfield branch of a new national temperance movement, "If you are to win a man to your cause, you must first convince him that you are a sincere friend." Further he said, if you approach a person and "mark him as one to be shunned and despised ... he will retreat within himself, close all avenues to his head and heart."

How do we begin to come together as a nation when, as the rock band The Clash once sang, "you have the right to free speech, so long as you are not stupid enough to actually try it."

I will be looking for candidates who have the courage to reach across the aisle, talk frankly yet compassionately and respectfully about the tough issues we face and who will work tirelessly to solve those problems for the benefit of the entire nation, regardless of party or interest affiliation. I hope you will do the same.

David Clark

Libertyville,