If one is educated, sensible, and insists on telling people the truth about important or should-be important issues - how sustainable Social Security is in the face of demographs and fiscal realities, whether the war in Afghanistan is winnable, how much of a congressman's time every week must be devoted to fundraising from special interests, etc. - then one will serve zero or very little time in Congress.

"In a democracy, the people get the government they deserve." - Alexis De Tocqueville