Candidate A served 8 years in his state legislature
Candidate B served 6 years on his city council.
Candidate AÂ served one term in the US House of Representatives, choosing not to run again.
Candidate B served three terms in the US House of Representatives, then ran directly for higher office.
Candidate A ran for the US Senate but lost, yet became a national figure in the process.
Candidate B ran for the US Senate but lost, yet became a national figure in the process.
Two years later candidate A got elected President of the United States.
and Candidate B might run for President two years later.
By now you should be able to identify Candidate A as Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States, and Candidate B as Beto O’Rourke, former Congressman and Senate candidate from Texas.
The parallels are far from exact. After all, Lincoln lost his first race for both the Illinois legislature and for nomination for Congress.  I do not believe O’Rourke ever lost a race before his narrow 2018 defeat by Ted Cruz, and he won his House seat defeating an incumbent
Lincoln had a substantial career outside of government between stints in it, and O’Rourke’s time in government was continuous, although he also had a somewhat extensive business career before entering politics They are, however, close in age: Lincoln was 51 when he became President and Beto would be 48. Lincoln was largely self-educated, including reading for the law, and lacked formal education (although he was a voracious reader throughout his life) O’Rourke graduated from Woodberry Forest, an all-boys prep school in Madison County Virginia before he went to Columbia U.
Both were athletic — Lincoln’s physical prowess was notable even before the tales of him being a rail-splitter. O’Rourke co-captained Columbia’s heavyweight crew.
