Lincoln might have been interested in this
An incident which would have bolstered Lincoln's accusation that Stephen Douglas was part of a slave-power conspiracy
I’ve previously discussed the conspiracy theory Abraham Lincoln laid down in 1858 while running for U. S. Senate against the incumbent Stephen Douglas (D-IL). According to Lincoln’s theory, Douglas conspired with other Democrats - President James Buchanan, ex-President Franklin Pierce, and Chief Justice Roger Taney - to extend slavery into the federal territories, particularly into Kansas.
Douglas replied by (a) accusing Lincoln of being in an abolitionist conspiracy and (b) denying he was involved in any proslavery conspiracy - he was just interested in giving the (white) people of Kansas and other territories a fair vote for or against slavery - “popular sovereignty.”
Here’s what Lincoln could have used to bolster his conspiracy, if he’d known it. He could have pointed out how Douglas, until scared off from this course by fear of awakened Northern voters, was willing to sell out his purported commitment to “popular sovereignty” for the sake of appeasing the proslavery forces. The proslavers came close to getting Douglas’ holding forth a political bribe to Kansas voters if they voted the “right” (proslavery) way.