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Robert Gehrke: So, you want to run for Congress? What’s wrong with you?!?

In a few days, all boys and girls will wake, rub their eyes and stagger to their tree to see all the wonders Santa brought them.

The nice ones, at least. The naughty ones will be snatched from their beds, shoved in a sack, dragged to Washington, D.C., and conscripted to be members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

It’s not quite that bad. But in the last decade and particularly the last few years, it seems like it’s become harder and harder to get top-notch people who are actually willing to run for Congress.

Take last week, Dan Hemmert, the state senate majority whip, bowed out of the 4th Congressional District race, explaining that the demands of running his dry cleaning businesses made it impossible for him to focus on the campaign.