Step 1: Getting Qualified

The legal qualifications are entirely different from the expected qualifications of a Congressperson. The Constitution only requires you to be 25 years old, an American citizen for the past seven years, and an inhabitant of the state you represent at the time of the election, but there are other things you can do to "really" qualify. Yes, going to Law School would certainly help, but that takes too long.

So here are the Things You Can Do Right Now To Become More Qualified to Run for Congress

• Learn the common propaganda techniques used by politicians during their campaigns. You probably don't need to use them, but you should be able to call out any techniques your opponent uses by name.

• Know the Constitution from front to back, including all of the amendments. If you need help with this, I will be posting some flashcards on this subreddit in the coming weeks.

• In addition to the Constitution, you should read the Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers so you can have an understanding of some of the philosophical reasonings behind the organization of our government on the Federal level, as well as arguments against those ideas.

• Familiarize yourself with the various forms of Government used by societies in the world's history. You should know the pros and cons of each, as well as how they are relevant to today's political climate.

• In addition to the structures of government used throughout history, you should also be familiar with the leaders who lead those governments. You should especially know why certain leaders are either venerated or hated by Americans.

• You definitely should practice learning the basic geographic location of all 50 states and the names of their capitals.

• Practice reading real legislation. Read every word of a bill or law until you know exactly what every line says. This guy is pretty controversial right now, so I recommend you practice with him.

• Read politically-relevant books on a variety of subjects. If you seriously care about your country, you will make it a point to absorb the knowledge of the world's greatest minds on a nightly basis. I will add to this list from any recommendations in this thread. I think all leaders should read Physics for Future Presidents and Gaming the Vote.

• Read the news. Always. You should always be kept abreast about World and US politics if you plan on making a serious run. Subscribe to the RSS feeds on prominent political blogs and definitely read r/politics or similar subreddits every day.

• Prepare and deliver a speech as if it were a real speech for practice. For bonus points, video yourself practicing the speech and watch it with some friends with the sound off. You can find unfavorable mannerisms this way. Keep practicing speaking until you can eliminate the mannerism.

• Post a thread in this subreddit declaring your intentions. We'll add you to the sidebar and provide a link to a campaign website of your choice.

Looking Like a Congressperson

How you dress is entirely a matter of your own judgement. It's up to you to determine what kind of leader your district wants, and dressing for the role is not "pandering," it's trying to become a part of the community. Despite this, there are a few guidelines you should follow:

1.) Men, politics is just like Hollywood. Ditch the glasses during your campaign stops and switch to contacts. Women, you can get away with glasses, or ditch them. Your choice.

2.) Try to follow the sartorial trends of other current political candidates. Don't just look at the pictures of the formal debates because you will only see suits. Scour Google for photos of how candidates dressed when they campaigned in your district during previous election cycles. They don't just wear whatever is next in the closet, candidates strategically wear blue shirts in more rural areas, formal suits in metropolitan areas, etc.

3.) Candidates almost invariably wear blue or red ties. I'm not sure why, but someone somewhere spent a lot of money on this idea, and now we can use the idea for free to better our own campaigns.

If you have any insight or advice to add to this, I will happily add it.