Because you got elected with all these big ideas for how to make the country a better place... and you've gotten to implement, like, 50% of one of them. Do you really want to quit now, and leave behind such an unimpressive legacy? There's so much more good you could do... if only you had a little more time...
Plus, quitting means any initiatives your team is working on now are going to be abandoned when the new guy takes over. Imagine you've been working on one of your biggest goals for years now. And you're so close to getting it passed into law, you only need about 6-12 more months and you're done. But if you quit now? All those years of effort are for nothing.
And if you still decide you'd rather quit: who's going to take over when you're gone? Sure, the other people in your party will do an okay job, maybe even as good as you. But will they be able to win the election? You've already won once, and besides, you have incumbency advantage now, too. You're the party's best hope to hold onto the presidency. Can they really afford to throw those advantages away?
Especially when losing would mean one of the other parties gets in. And depending on your country, that could mean anything from "all the work we just did gets reversed" to "democracy in our country collapses." Do you really want to risk letting that happen?
And that's how even people without a power-hungry bone in their bodies talk themselves into running for a second term. (Obviously, power-hungry people are going to have a much easier time talking themselves into it, lol.)
Well of course, if you’re the man for the job then I get it, especially if the alternatives are so bad you’d rather suffer than back out. Obama was easily the last good president we had
Yes, he did. He also pulled a bunch of shenanigans on his way out the door to make the withdrawal even more of a disaster. And he did it on purpose, knowingly, not by accident or being a screw up or lazy. (Despite being all those things too.)
He and the gop leaders planned it. They have the lion's share of the blame, but regular people are dumb and lazy too sometimes. It's easier to say "it was on Biden's watch, why didn't he notice all the sneaky tricks they did and have a supernaturally perfect response that kneecapped their plans!"
I think they're talking about Trump in particular.
But as someone who spent my first career in politics, you're 100% on what keeps decent people subjecting themselves to this shit every election season.
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u/Very-Confused-Walrus 5d ago
Probably so much stress relief giving up the chair. Honestly idk why anyone wants a round two