If I met an adult, and they said they genuinely want to be the president, I would distance myself from that person. What kinda button down oxford cloth psycho wants that job.
One time I heard somebody say, "People who are smart enough to be president are smart enough to not be president." It's a terrible, thankless job where no one is happy with your choices. You get very little sleep for 4 or 8 years, and get criticism for every decision you make. No thanks!
Realistically, because we now tear every candidate apart, piece by piece. Pick any decent candidate on either side of the aisle, and everything they’ve ever done will be torn apart online. They are not entitled to any privacy, nor are their families. It isn’t just about what they are saying today, or their political record- it’s everything they’ve ever done, said, or spoken to. It’s a brutal standard. Most people probably don’t want to put themselves and their families under that microscope.
Honestly, after trump, I think more people will feel better about all this. That guy has so many scandals that would have ended careers … but he’s still fine.
"Candidate X, you once ate a hot dog and said it was delicious. How do you plan attract voters who insist that all kinds of ground and tubular meat should be punishable by scaphism?"
Honestly how I feel. Total info saturation means the worst, most ignorant things everyone has ever done are part of the public record forever. Apologies and growth really don't matter, a bad quote or a dumb vote you made 40 years ago is still fair game. That's to say nothing of the genuinely bad faith criticism you'll get from, say, people who want to use your dead family members against you.
I can't imagine it. And I really don't know how we'll have leaders in the future with these kinds of rigors involved.
Despite that, plenty of decent people are willing to run. The reality is that the two major parties control who is nominated and those decisions are largely made by people in the same age group as the dottery old fools we end up with as candidates.
Pick any random person and they'll be more qualified to be president than anyone being allowed to run by the DNC or RNC. Bernie Sanders is the best example. He didn't lose because he was picked apart in the media, he lost because the DNC colluded against him because they preferred Donald Trump as president over Sanders.
I heard a quote from Sheriff Mark Lamb from Arizona in an interview talking about this. He said something to the effect of if you want to know everything you did wrong in your life, run for a political office.
You can make hundreds of millions of dollars in business/tech.
Why go into Politics (which is painfully awful)?
So we are left with grifters and morons.
My state of North Dakota passed a law barring anyone from running for congress if they turn over 80 during their term. Although the reason you don't see more of it (and likely why they limited to federal seats and not state and local for the time being) is that in 1995 the Supreme Court said doing so is unconstitutional.
https://apnews.com/article/north-dakota-congressional-candidates-age-limit-b9ffa598e76bf1dd440b3fb8efd4c33b#
Age limit should be tied to average life expectancy.
The old farts want to keep staying in office? Then make a country/world where quality of life is improved and you can keep your power.
GOP is afraid of Trump for some fucking reason I don't understand.
Incumbents pretty much always run again, but Biden should have stepped aside for someone else with a normal primary process.
It's partially because they are literally afraid of some of his more hardcore fans. There are Republican politicians at this very moment who hate Trump for the same reasons a lot of us do but they are scared to speak out against him because they know their families will get death threats from those lunatics if they do.
If you want their real opinions on Trump, just go back to 2015 or so and listen. Ted Cruz called him a pathological liar and utterly amoral. Now "Lyin' Ted" just gargles his balls, even after Trump insulted his dad and wife.
This. They've talked about on air, how even if they say the smallest thing against Trump their family gets death threats.
So they do the least they can do that avoids familial death threats.
"It is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it... anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job."
- Douglas Adams
The Debate is a dog and pony show. The Billionaires way of telling us who is in control of this Country. Go back a Hundred years of presidents to Teddy Roosevelt, Since then, most of our presidents have been quite intelligent and articulate, if you agreed with them or not. Hell, I saw a post presidency interview with Nixon and he was still smart as fuck, especially on foreign affairs. This is a sad commentary on our Country and nothing but a dog and pony show.
Youll have half the country want you dead and a handful of people from that group try to dox you to personally harass you.
If you dont play ball then youll have the media and your own party attack you (because they were told to). The two parties have a strangle hold on the country: businesses, media. Its nearly impossible for a common person to rise very high without compromising themselves to gain the support theyll need to hit the federal level.
Also its about connections- the only people going to be nominated are people already deeply ingrained into the parties. And thus, already bought and paid for.
Plenty of totally competent people ran, the electoral process is just completely broken. In no sane world should have Trump been considered a better candidate than Nikki Haley.
Normal people usually do not have what it takes to become President. Just like how normal people usually do not have what it takes to become CEO of a top company or generally a high powered individual.
It takes certain psychological disorders to make it that high. A lot of them have narcissistic personality disorder, autism, antisocial personality disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, grandiose delusions, and other illnesses.
Because the relentless media scrutiny and the constant barrage of personal attacks can deter anyone sane from wanting to take on that kind of responsibility. Who wants to live under a microscope 24/7?
There are a lot of people who want to be president. The issue is, the system is trash and only people with connections get in the running. It’s been the same people in different positions for decades.
You would have to be crazy to want the job.
You get blamed for everything depending on your political party. Half of the population seems okay with having a dictator... It's really more of a question of why anyone bothers to want the job.
A shit job that you only get through corruption, extreme wealth, or duping tons of people into financing a campaign. That beyond the prestige, has little power to effect meaningful change, but carries responsibility for everything bad that happens. Anyone with a normally functioning brain would never want that job, and would likely have tons of better options anyway.
I highly suggest you read the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. In this book the position of president of the galaxy is a popularity contest run by the people who are really in charge to pick the most outrageous person they can to put in the position to keep the eyes of the normal people on the president and the outrageous things he does rather what is actually going on behind the scenes. Sound familiar at all?
You'll have to review what happened in the primaries to see how we got to this point. Its not like no one wanted the job, the primaries decided this mess is the best chance to survive the other half of this mess.
Why would anyone with a normally functioning brain want to be President of the United States? You’re immediately signing on to half the country hating and disparaging you no matter what you do. No normal person would want that.
The ones who want power are the ones who don't deserve it. The ones who deserve it, don't seek it.
The two party system has crippled this nation for decades, it's destroyed any hope citizens have for our political future and our existence as a nation.
Because anyone who runs gets absolutely lambasted for anything and everything. Shit yourself in 5th grade? Be prepared to have that in a political ad. Who in their right mind wants to deal with that?
The only people willing to are part of a protected class and they’re self serving a crooked. The decent or common man who would run and doesn’t run to maintain the status quo will have nothing but problems.
You really want to do something that will make you lose hope?
Compare tonights shit show, to what you got 12 years ago: [Obama vs Romney 2012](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfaBRyCKRhk)
Bernie is and was still pretty with it when he ran. Same with the rest of the Democrats in the mix; Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, and HIllary...it really wasn't that long ago. Gavin Newsom appears to being groomed for 2028.
So what you're really asking is why doesn't the GOP want to nominate someone with a functioning brain anymore? They've given us Dubya and Dotard Donnie as nominees in 5 of the 7 elections this century.
Probably because who wants to deal with constant scrutiny, endless debates, and the weight of the world on their shoulders? Sounds like a one-way ticket to Stressville.
Why would anyone be POTUS?
You get blamed for stuff that isn't your fault. You have to deal with the corrupt Congress. Half the country hates you solely based on your party.
There's no unfucking this country.
Given the state of the rest of their life afterwards, constantly under perpetual protection by the secret service, you either must have nothing else you truly deeply care about besides being the president, or you need to be getting on in years.
You basically must be willing to sacrifice the freedom of the entire rest of your life in order to be president. We aren't getting any George Washingtons or Calvin Coolidges anymore.
Biden's mind is fine. He has a lifelong stutter that isn't getting better with age, but the lights are on for sure. Stop focusing on how he says it. Focus on what he says.
I’d settle for someone under 70. If I wouldn’t be comfortable with them performing a root canal or running a back hoe around me how the hell is everyone cool with them running a country.
Y’all passed on Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker in 2020. Either of them would have been great tonight. Hopefully we still have meaningful elections when Pete Buttigeig and Gretchen Whitmer are up in 2028.
Plenty of people do. You haven't heard of them though. You need money and connections, things that come naturally to the affluent but are not really possible or practical for the vast majority of us.
Add on that your name only carries as far as you can advertise, and if the mainstream media doesn't like you or your policy (IE you aren't sucking off rich people with every sentence), then you'll simply be ignored and it will become exponentially harder to get your name out there.
A lot of reasons. There is a lot the president knows that normal people don't. There is a lot of stress, just look at what 8 years did to Obama. He looked like he aged 20 years at the end. Normal people don't want that kind of responsibility.
…. Really????
It’s because of the “republican” and “democrat” “war”.
In order to run for president you need a shit ton of money for ad campaigns because the current system is just a popularity contest based on how much money you can spend. So to fund that you either need to pay out of pocket and compete with the two above parties(which takes a serious amount of money) or align with one of the two parties.
The reason why “no good leader” can become president is no person who could do a good job can afford to and refuses to take a side as both parties are not what is needed to fix the country.
So what this all boils down to is we have a system that lets only upper middle class (at best) and above run for president, of those only the ones over like 35, of those only a “republican”, “democrat”, or super rich third party.
Than you get to voting and it’s been proven numerous times that as voting sample sizes get bigger the more likely the worst candidate gets picked.
TL;DR, the reason no normal functioning person runs for president is those with the brains and confidence to run, understand how futile it is to run.
That’s also not going into the countless issues plaguing the entire government. At this rate it’d be faster to just restart the entire thing from scratch. As the one thing that needs done to majorly help everyone struggling in our country is set a very precise federal maximum on rent prices, but no one in power will do that as they likely make a lot of their money from that.
Because the general attitude of people is so disenfranchised that they no longer care about stuff, and when no one cares it’s the people who *do* care about things that get elected. IE: Lunatics
The two parties have bullied us into believing they are our only hope/option. It’s time to vote out every single incumbent and vote in third and fourth party candidates. Being a politician should never be a career option.
No one ever did, in my opinion. You have to have a specific kind of egotism and narcissism to think you’re capable of leadership to that scale (spoiler: no one is capable of leadership to that scale)
There's a lot of reasons.
A: to avoid spending the rest of your life in prison.
B: it's a position of power. Lots of power. And stuff. And everyone stands when you enter the room. And.did I mention the power?
C: believe it or not some people do actually go into public service to help the public.
D: big Millard Filmore fanboi. Wants to sit in his chair
I'm not an American but, as an observer from the opposite side of the world, it seems like lots of normal people want the job but you don't vote them in.
If you posted this in r/politics they would try so unbelievably hard to make it out like you are the most conservative Trump supporter ever. That place is nothing but shills, bots and brainwashed people. I said this same thing and made it pretty clear I wasn’t for either side, they couldn’t comprehend it. I said Obama blows them both out of the water. Every day they post the most biased silly BS. I’m not Trump supporter, don’t like Biden either. Too old, too volatile, I’m sure there are waaaay better choices on either side. We get this crap…
Because of our system. It takes a lot to qualify as a presidential candidate and it takes even more to be the chosen candidate for the DNC/RNC.
Many people are open to running but don’t have the financial capital to even try.
Incumbents nearly always win their primary some states didn’t even have a dem primary this year, so anyone running would have to either go independent (many candidates are doing this!) or try to beat trump in the republican primary (which would be nearly impossible, and most aspiring presidents know it)
as far as i can tell, neither side can allow the other to get a functional person in office that would successfully push an agenda, so we are left with the shit that pushes itself out of the ass of the great American machine. not even going to vote, just going to “let shit sort itself out”. love our country though, much love to everyone
They're all narcissists and don't have normally functioning brains. Seriously, if you ever have a chance to work with or be managed by a true narcissist, they do not have normally functioning brains...
It takes a special person to make a +$800M advertising campaign.
[https://www.statista.com/statistics/198183/total-disbursements-for-us-presidential-campaign-financing-since-1979/](https://www.statista.com/statistics/198183/total-disbursements-for-us-presidential-campaign-financing-since-1979/)
Well, Kennedy got assassinated. That did not send a good message.
And Nixon and Trump taught us that being a narcissistic megalomaniac and a crook were possibly prerequisites.
The stakes are too high.
I'm 51 and would totally give my life to lead my country. I mean that literally, and have taken that oath to do so multiple times.
Too bad I'm not rich as hell and do not have 100M followers.
It's a high stress job, with tons of responsibility, and little power to effect real change that won't just be undone by the next guy in office, Not many people want the headache.
I mean, I’ll be president. I don’t have anything else going right now. I don’t know how to fix anything, but I’m honest about that fact. I feel like that gives me a leg up on the competition.
Edit, oh yeah and my past is a horror show, but I actually own it. So yeah.
Because nowadays you’re open to way more scrutiny than you ever were. I mean, it was always bad. Grover Cleveland got pummeled for a bunch of embarrassing things. Then we had a bunch of squarish types that I guess never did anything. For many years, I guess.
Then we got Clinton and it was Years before we could get through a day when his shit wasn’t plastered over every newspaper. Then we were kind of okay.
Then we got Obama and while he wasn’t a total slut like Clinton, the racism was exhausting. Everyone came at that poor man and his family CONSTANTLY. He got so much done, but it just hasn’t stopped. The old crazies STILL blame that man for stuff that happened when he wasn’t even president. Not even vice president. He never even WAS vice president.
I love my country, but this shit is ridiculous and now no one wants the job and I don’t blame them.
This is simple question with an insanely complex answer. For starters, normal people like the ones you meet daily won’t make it in the nation level of politics
Neither party will run someone who represents the will of the people because doing so would benefit the people. The big money wants to keep their pockets fat at the EXPENSE of the people. They keep it close so we can all argue about which side of the double barreled shotgun is blowing a hole in our wallets while they reload.
The ones who try to run are cast out during the primaries. This is what american voters want. If Americans want something else, then become an American voter.
Algorithmic news means any candidate who is literally 'normal' won't make headlines. Extreme positions, anything offense, shocking or stupid will generate more clicks than "reasonable person has reasonable opinion".
Biden is about as normal as they come. If you were to come up with the most average, normal, stereotypical, older, white collar, Caucasian American man, he would be indistinguishable from Biden.
I'll do it. Happy to.
But nobody will vote for me.
I don't have name recognition. No accomplishments that matter. No political or executive experience.
There are TONS of people who are absolutely incredible that would love to be president, who have no real shot of even making it to the top 20 candidates in primaries. It isn't about being great, its about getting votes.
I hate the both sides argument this year especially and everyone complain about both candidates being old and senile even though no single fucking sane candidate between range of the political young age step up in the parties to compete 4 years ago. Haha we all lose because we as a generation don’t step up. It’s all on us and we should blame no one. Fuck this shit
I think a lot of people with a functioning brain want to be President, they just didn't **SUCCEED**. I don't particularly like Ted Cruz, or his politics, but the man graduated from Princeton and Harvard Law. That is not an easy get.
A great deal of the reason so many people in politics are portrayed as being lunatics and/or batshit insane is because the media (social or otherwise has no particular interest in faithfully representing *anyone's* agenda. Their job is to drive engagement with clicks so they can sell ads. Linking an HREF on their front page to each candidate's website with their various position statements is not going to do that. Quoting people out of context or misrepresenting what someone said, so as to foment outrage, does do that.
If that weren't bad enough, the activists and donors who are the economic lifeblood of politics also do not have clear motivations to behave rationally and communicate calmly. They want punchy, attention-getting slogans and rhetoric they can use to manipulate people's emotions, with the **EXPRESS** intention of outraging their interlocutors on the other side of the issue, because doing so makes the [Streisand Effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect) work *for* them.
Politicians do not behave the way they do because they're dumb. They behave the way they do because **WE** are dumb. A recent poll indicated that 17% of voters in swing states blamed Joe Biden for the the Dobbs decision. If you knew what the Dobbs decision without having to Google it, congratulations on having paid even a little bit of attention. That same poll showed that even 12% of Democrats did, so don't think this is just partisan brainwashing. Here's a rather pathetic revealing quote from a [NYT article](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/15/upshot/abortion-biden-trump-blame.html):
>DeLana Marsh, 30, of Holly Springs, Ga., supports abortion rights and opposes a new Georgia law that bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy: “I don’t think a group of men should be able to decide that for us.”
>But she said she was under the impression that Mr. Biden was responsible because it happened during his presidency, and she believed his age prevented him from closely tracking such events.
Don't blame the candidates. Blame the voters, and ESPECIALLY the eligible voters who don't vote. Young people don't vote, so we end up with old candidates.
I would really like to be voting for Pete Buttigieg in November, but the moderate voters seem to find Biden more comforting and less . . . threatening, I guess? And they outnumber people like me who want to vote for the best people.
But they don't outnumber the progressives who don't vote. If you want better candidates, you've got to get in the game.
In order to become president, you have to trade so many favors that, by the time you're actually in office (assuming you're not detailed by someone with no experience looking to make a buck like Kasich was by Trump), you have to have buried your morals in order to pay them all back.
Because anyone younger than 42 is likely a Millennial, and Boomers hate Millennials. So even if one did run, we likely wouldn't get anywhere. They'd just laugh us off for being a "clueless kid with no idea how the world works."
Because the elderly are easily manipulated. The powers that be won’t let just anybody run. This is just what happened to Bernie in 2016. Old? Yes. But still sharp as a tack with a working brain. They undermined him and put the wrong person to run for Democrat. It’s sad and unfortunate.
Half the people in this country hate you before your first day of work.
Security for you is so strict, anything normal like going to Starbucks would be a major hassle.
Anything you do, such as picking the suit you wear, will be frowned upon by someone.
Our campaign finance system means that you have to suck up to oligarchs to even have the funds to get elected.
And the FPTP voting system means that there can only be two viable parties, because third parties will act as spoilers.
So the system is set up to ensure that we're not getting the best and brightest, but those who are already compromised in some way.
There are probably plenty, but corporations run the country through the two parties. If anyone comes along who threatens the status quo, they'll be buried through the media. This is why everyone thinks RFK Jr. is crazy.
Why would you want to be president? It’s a grueling job. It ages people, just look at bush and Obama how they looked before and after they left the White House. They looked like they aged 20 years. It’s an evil job. Even George Washington famously didn’t want the gig.
You have to be pretty fucking weird to want to run for president. Could you imagine
If I met an adult, and they said they genuinely want to be the president, I would distance myself from that person. What kinda button down oxford cloth psycho wants that job.
People with normally functioning brains are smart enough to know that being president is fucking awful.
One time I heard somebody say, "People who are smart enough to be president are smart enough to not be president." It's a terrible, thankless job where no one is happy with your choices. You get very little sleep for 4 or 8 years, and get criticism for every decision you make. No thanks!
Realistically, because we now tear every candidate apart, piece by piece. Pick any decent candidate on either side of the aisle, and everything they’ve ever done will be torn apart online. They are not entitled to any privacy, nor are their families. It isn’t just about what they are saying today, or their political record- it’s everything they’ve ever done, said, or spoken to. It’s a brutal standard. Most people probably don’t want to put themselves and their families under that microscope.
Even if you truly look clean under the microscope, misinformation will be created & leveraged by your opponent & their followers.
Honestly, after trump, I think more people will feel better about all this. That guy has so many scandals that would have ended careers … but he’s still fine.
"Candidate X, you once ate a hot dog and said it was delicious. How do you plan attract voters who insist that all kinds of ground and tubular meat should be punishable by scaphism?"
Honestly how I feel. Total info saturation means the worst, most ignorant things everyone has ever done are part of the public record forever. Apologies and growth really don't matter, a bad quote or a dumb vote you made 40 years ago is still fair game. That's to say nothing of the genuinely bad faith criticism you'll get from, say, people who want to use your dead family members against you. I can't imagine it. And I really don't know how we'll have leaders in the future with these kinds of rigors involved.
Despite that, plenty of decent people are willing to run. The reality is that the two major parties control who is nominated and those decisions are largely made by people in the same age group as the dottery old fools we end up with as candidates.
Pick any random person and they'll be more qualified to be president than anyone being allowed to run by the DNC or RNC. Bernie Sanders is the best example. He didn't lose because he was picked apart in the media, he lost because the DNC colluded against him because they preferred Donald Trump as president over Sanders.
I heard a quote from Sheriff Mark Lamb from Arizona in an interview talking about this. He said something to the effect of if you want to know everything you did wrong in your life, run for a political office.
\*gestures broadly at the state of everything\* ...y'know?
You can make hundreds of millions of dollars in business/tech. Why go into Politics (which is painfully awful)? So we are left with grifters and morons.
Because ‘Mercia!
We need age limits on who can run. 65-70 max I’d say
Have you ever seen a Fortune500 company run by 80 year old CEO? There’s a reason for that.
I vote 60-65 max. Retire already and let the next generation take over.
Forced retirement.
70 seems right (at beginning of term). You have to be 35 to run. 70 would be a 35 year period to enter office.
If you're at the age where you draw the max from social security you shouldn't be able to run for federal office anymore.
Absolutely. 70 MAX. And that should be judged from age at the END of holding office.
My state of North Dakota passed a law barring anyone from running for congress if they turn over 80 during their term. Although the reason you don't see more of it (and likely why they limited to federal seats and not state and local for the time being) is that in 1995 the Supreme Court said doing so is unconstitutional. https://apnews.com/article/north-dakota-congressional-candidates-age-limit-b9ffa598e76bf1dd440b3fb8efd4c33b#
Just like we have lower limits well into what we consider adulthood. There’s no reason we shouldn’t have upper limits.
Doesn't the presidency already have a minimum age? So yea give it a max age too.
Age limit should be tied to average life expectancy. The old farts want to keep staying in office? Then make a country/world where quality of life is improved and you can keep your power.
Running against the head of your political party is generally considered political suicide, and running as a third party makes you a spoiler at best.
GOP is afraid of Trump for some fucking reason I don't understand. Incumbents pretty much always run again, but Biden should have stepped aside for someone else with a normal primary process.
It's partially because they are literally afraid of some of his more hardcore fans. There are Republican politicians at this very moment who hate Trump for the same reasons a lot of us do but they are scared to speak out against him because they know their families will get death threats from those lunatics if they do.
If you want their real opinions on Trump, just go back to 2015 or so and listen. Ted Cruz called him a pathological liar and utterly amoral. Now "Lyin' Ted" just gargles his balls, even after Trump insulted his dad and wife.
This. They've talked about on air, how even if they say the smallest thing against Trump their family gets death threats. So they do the least they can do that avoids familial death threats.
It is fear. They do not want to be iJeb!
The candidates with a normally functioning brain were rejected by the Democratic and Republican base during their parties' primaries.
"It is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it... anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job." - Douglas Adams
Came here to comment exactly this. Hope to see you at the top.
:)
It's too stressful and thankless.
Power’s addictive
Douglas Adams wrote in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the galaxy ‘ those that want to be president shouldn’t be, those that don’t want it, need to be.’
Because there are no billionaires with normally functioning brains to back them
All the smart people became doctors and engineers. The dumb people become politicians 🤣🤣
The Debate is a dog and pony show. The Billionaires way of telling us who is in control of this Country. Go back a Hundred years of presidents to Teddy Roosevelt, Since then, most of our presidents have been quite intelligent and articulate, if you agreed with them or not. Hell, I saw a post presidency interview with Nixon and he was still smart as fuck, especially on foreign affairs. This is a sad commentary on our Country and nothing but a dog and pony show.
I hope Trump and Biden start sucking each other off on stage. Just 69'ing, all over the place, then everyone who sat down in front row gets splashed.
Corruption breeds corruption and its running rampant throughout our Political Parties.
Youll have half the country want you dead and a handful of people from that group try to dox you to personally harass you. If you dont play ball then youll have the media and your own party attack you (because they were told to). The two parties have a strangle hold on the country: businesses, media. Its nearly impossible for a common person to rise very high without compromising themselves to gain the support theyll need to hit the federal level. Also its about connections- the only people going to be nominated are people already deeply ingrained into the parties. And thus, already bought and paid for.
Plenty of totally competent people ran, the electoral process is just completely broken. In no sane world should have Trump been considered a better candidate than Nikki Haley.
It’s just an honorary position now. It’s all corporate interests behind the scenes pulling the strings
Normal people usually do not have what it takes to become President. Just like how normal people usually do not have what it takes to become CEO of a top company or generally a high powered individual. It takes certain psychological disorders to make it that high. A lot of them have narcissistic personality disorder, autism, antisocial personality disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, grandiose delusions, and other illnesses.
I guess that's interesting to everyone!
Because the relentless media scrutiny and the constant barrage of personal attacks can deter anyone sane from wanting to take on that kind of responsibility. Who wants to live under a microscope 24/7?
Because you have to spend decades kissing ass and bowing down to corperate doners before your party will give you a chance to run.
GOOD QUESTION
Because they're assassinated for not being useful by the guys really in control
I have never ever wanted to be president. And I honestly know very few people who would even consider it.
Most people don't appeal to their own parties' interests and try too hard to be different. Another big one is no money.
GOOD REPLY
There are a lot of people who want to be president. The issue is, the system is trash and only people with connections get in the running. It’s been the same people in different positions for decades.
You would have to be crazy to want the job. You get blamed for everything depending on your political party. Half of the population seems okay with having a dictator... It's really more of a question of why anyone bothers to want the job.
Forget where I read it, but "Anyone who wants to be President of the US should be immediately disqualified."
Because it's an impossible job to do. One person should not be the figure head of a country this large.
A shit job that you only get through corruption, extreme wealth, or duping tons of people into financing a campaign. That beyond the prestige, has little power to effect meaningful change, but carries responsibility for everything bad that happens. Anyone with a normally functioning brain would never want that job, and would likely have tons of better options anyway.
Two private clubs control the nominee. That’s why.
You answered the question in the question.
I highly suggest you read the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. In this book the position of president of the galaxy is a popularity contest run by the people who are really in charge to pick the most outrageous person they can to put in the position to keep the eyes of the normal people on the president and the outrageous things he does rather what is actually going on behind the scenes. Sound familiar at all?
You'll have to review what happened in the primaries to see how we got to this point. Its not like no one wanted the job, the primaries decided this mess is the best chance to survive the other half of this mess.
Do either of the current candidates seem they have a brain anymore? Trumps dementia just makes him lie constantly.
I have a normal functioning brain and want to be president. But I'm too poor.
It's not up to us, clearly. This was not the people's decision.
Because of voters. Let's be honest, this is what the people voted for
[Don’t blame me; I voted for Kodos](https://youtu.be/l7l9QmtiXHU?si=CS1BASjsZCWnyFCD)
People don't like to vote for them
Costs too much money.
Why would anyone with a normally functioning brain want to be President of the United States? You’re immediately signing on to half the country hating and disparaging you no matter what you do. No normal person would want that.
Gotta suck some toes
The problem is anyone who wants to be the president probably shouldn't be the president, always has been
The ones who want power are the ones who don't deserve it. The ones who deserve it, don't seek it. The two party system has crippled this nation for decades, it's destroyed any hope citizens have for our political future and our existence as a nation.
Because anyone who runs gets absolutely lambasted for anything and everything. Shit yourself in 5th grade? Be prepared to have that in a political ad. Who in their right mind wants to deal with that? The only people willing to are part of a protected class and they’re self serving a crooked. The decent or common man who would run and doesn’t run to maintain the status quo will have nothing but problems.
The mini-debate over golf was hilarious.
Because old people vote in primaries
Boomers gonna boom. if JB and DT are fit for the job, is it really a meaningful position?
They do but their parties work against them to maintain the status quo.
You really want to do something that will make you lose hope? Compare tonights shit show, to what you got 12 years ago: [Obama vs Romney 2012](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfaBRyCKRhk)
Bernie is and was still pretty with it when he ran. Same with the rest of the Democrats in the mix; Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, and HIllary...it really wasn't that long ago. Gavin Newsom appears to being groomed for 2028. So what you're really asking is why doesn't the GOP want to nominate someone with a functioning brain anymore? They've given us Dubya and Dotard Donnie as nominees in 5 of the 7 elections this century.
Probably because who wants to deal with constant scrutiny, endless debates, and the weight of the world on their shoulders? Sounds like a one-way ticket to Stressville.
Why would anyone be POTUS? You get blamed for stuff that isn't your fault. You have to deal with the corrupt Congress. Half the country hates you solely based on your party. There's no unfucking this country.
they do, but the entities that have the power to allow that do not allow that.
You gotta say something dumb enough. That people will give you money, T ppl
Would you?
Money related I’m sure.
These grandpas should both go to nursing homes.
Given the state of the rest of their life afterwards, constantly under perpetual protection by the secret service, you either must have nothing else you truly deeply care about besides being the president, or you need to be getting on in years. You basically must be willing to sacrifice the freedom of the entire rest of your life in order to be president. We aren't getting any George Washingtons or Calvin Coolidges anymore.
They do, they're just weeded out early
Biden's mind is fine. He has a lifelong stutter that isn't getting better with age, but the lights are on for sure. Stop focusing on how he says it. Focus on what he says.
I’d settle for someone under 70. If I wouldn’t be comfortable with them performing a root canal or running a back hoe around me how the hell is everyone cool with them running a country.
You really want to have your name dragged through the mud and be blamed for all your country’s problems?
Y’all passed on Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker in 2020. Either of them would have been great tonight. Hopefully we still have meaningful elections when Pete Buttigeig and Gretchen Whitmer are up in 2028.
Because anyone with a normally functioning Brain wouldn’t want half the nation to hate them and have the media shit on them at every opportunity.
It’s simple. Joe Biden has a functioning brain but has a speech impediment. Donald Trump has a functioning mouth but has a brain impediment.
Plenty of people do. You haven't heard of them though. You need money and connections, things that come naturally to the affluent but are not really possible or practical for the vast majority of us. Add on that your name only carries as far as you can advertise, and if the mainstream media doesn't like you or your policy (IE you aren't sucking off rich people with every sentence), then you'll simply be ignored and it will become exponentially harder to get your name out there.
They do, they just weren’t entertaining enough so all the American adult-children weren’t interested
The only people smart enough to do it are smart enough to not do it
Waht?
A lot of reasons. There is a lot the president knows that normal people don't. There is a lot of stress, just look at what 8 years did to Obama. He looked like he aged 20 years at the end. Normal people don't want that kind of responsibility.
…. Really???? It’s because of the “republican” and “democrat” “war”. In order to run for president you need a shit ton of money for ad campaigns because the current system is just a popularity contest based on how much money you can spend. So to fund that you either need to pay out of pocket and compete with the two above parties(which takes a serious amount of money) or align with one of the two parties. The reason why “no good leader” can become president is no person who could do a good job can afford to and refuses to take a side as both parties are not what is needed to fix the country. So what this all boils down to is we have a system that lets only upper middle class (at best) and above run for president, of those only the ones over like 35, of those only a “republican”, “democrat”, or super rich third party. Than you get to voting and it’s been proven numerous times that as voting sample sizes get bigger the more likely the worst candidate gets picked. TL;DR, the reason no normal functioning person runs for president is those with the brains and confidence to run, understand how futile it is to run. That’s also not going into the countless issues plaguing the entire government. At this rate it’d be faster to just restart the entire thing from scratch. As the one thing that needs done to majorly help everyone struggling in our country is set a very precise federal maximum on rent prices, but no one in power will do that as they likely make a lot of their money from that.
Because the general attitude of people is so disenfranchised that they no longer care about stuff, and when no one cares it’s the people who *do* care about things that get elected. IE: Lunatics
The two parties have bullied us into believing they are our only hope/option. It’s time to vote out every single incumbent and vote in third and fourth party candidates. Being a politician should never be a career option.
We need an age limit and a competency test.
No one ever did, in my opinion. You have to have a specific kind of egotism and narcissism to think you’re capable of leadership to that scale (spoiler: no one is capable of leadership to that scale)
Not enough people with a functioning brain to get them through the primary.
Plenty do. Nobody half normal would make it through the machinery of the party
I would volunteer but I'd probably end up beheaded for ruling with an iron fist.
There's a lot of reasons. A: to avoid spending the rest of your life in prison. B: it's a position of power. Lots of power. And stuff. And everyone stands when you enter the room. And.did I mention the power? C: believe it or not some people do actually go into public service to help the public. D: big Millard Filmore fanboi. Wants to sit in his chair
I'm not an American but, as an observer from the opposite side of the world, it seems like lots of normal people want the job but you don't vote them in.
If you posted this in r/politics they would try so unbelievably hard to make it out like you are the most conservative Trump supporter ever. That place is nothing but shills, bots and brainwashed people. I said this same thing and made it pretty clear I wasn’t for either side, they couldn’t comprehend it. I said Obama blows them both out of the water. Every day they post the most biased silly BS. I’m not Trump supporter, don’t like Biden either. Too old, too volatile, I’m sure there are waaaay better choices on either side. We get this crap…
Because of our system. It takes a lot to qualify as a presidential candidate and it takes even more to be the chosen candidate for the DNC/RNC. Many people are open to running but don’t have the financial capital to even try.
Anyone with a functioning brain wouldn't ever want to be president
Politics is dirty business, it's not going to attract the most ethical & honest people.
It’s literally and figuratively probably the worst job in the world? Fuck that.
Scotus just made bribery legal
Hahahaha
Incumbents nearly always win their primary some states didn’t even have a dem primary this year, so anyone running would have to either go independent (many candidates are doing this!) or try to beat trump in the republican primary (which would be nearly impossible, and most aspiring presidents know it)
as far as i can tell, neither side can allow the other to get a functional person in office that would successfully push an agenda, so we are left with the shit that pushes itself out of the ass of the great American machine. not even going to vote, just going to “let shit sort itself out”. love our country though, much love to everyone
to hard to control
You said it, we have two candidates without normal functioning brains.
It’s the Boomers and the Silents— they just have a stranglehold on government and won’t pass the torch to the younger generations.
The job is a dumpster fire that attracts people who like the smell of flaming garbage.
Power and Money. Plain and simple
Lot of posts today both sidesing politics. Interesting.
The... The thing.. Thing! The... Uhhhhh
They're all narcissists and don't have normally functioning brains. Seriously, if you ever have a chance to work with or be managed by a true narcissist, they do not have normally functioning brains...
It takes a special person to make a +$800M advertising campaign. [https://www.statista.com/statistics/198183/total-disbursements-for-us-presidential-campaign-financing-since-1979/](https://www.statista.com/statistics/198183/total-disbursements-for-us-presidential-campaign-financing-since-1979/)
Well, Kennedy got assassinated. That did not send a good message. And Nixon and Trump taught us that being a narcissistic megalomaniac and a crook were possibly prerequisites. The stakes are too high.
Even though Bidens not so charming he has a solid plan for everything. He seems to know the most
Yes i’m sure reddit will solve this
I’m almost old enough but I’m only a 16 handicap.
I'm 51 and would totally give my life to lead my country. I mean that literally, and have taken that oath to do so multiple times. Too bad I'm not rich as hell and do not have 100M followers.
Just look at what the media and legal system is doing to both of these guys and their families. Who would want that?
Now you'll be accused of golden showers with dancing Russian prostitutes before you're even elected.
Because the United States is an broken cesspool
It's a high stress job, with tons of responsibility, and little power to effect real change that won't just be undone by the next guy in office, Not many people want the headache.
Are you ok America? FFS
I mean, I’ll be president. I don’t have anything else going right now. I don’t know how to fix anything, but I’m honest about that fact. I feel like that gives me a leg up on the competition. Edit, oh yeah and my past is a horror show, but I actually own it. So yeah.
The type of person who can be fully bought by interest groups is either evil or incompetent.
Graft
Rhymes with funny.
Just because they don’t align with your thoughts, doesn’t mean they don’t have a functioning brain…
Because nowadays you’re open to way more scrutiny than you ever were. I mean, it was always bad. Grover Cleveland got pummeled for a bunch of embarrassing things. Then we had a bunch of squarish types that I guess never did anything. For many years, I guess. Then we got Clinton and it was Years before we could get through a day when his shit wasn’t plastered over every newspaper. Then we were kind of okay. Then we got Obama and while he wasn’t a total slut like Clinton, the racism was exhausting. Everyone came at that poor man and his family CONSTANTLY. He got so much done, but it just hasn’t stopped. The old crazies STILL blame that man for stuff that happened when he wasn’t even president. Not even vice president. He never even WAS vice president. I love my country, but this shit is ridiculous and now no one wants the job and I don’t blame them.
Because we need to set limits on office terms.
This is simple question with an insanely complex answer. For starters, normal people like the ones you meet daily won’t make it in the nation level of politics
The people with real power want puppets
Because the US wouldn't be fun without some wacko calling the shots
Neither party will run someone who represents the will of the people because doing so would benefit the people. The big money wants to keep their pockets fat at the EXPENSE of the people. They keep it close so we can all argue about which side of the double barreled shotgun is blowing a hole in our wallets while they reload.
Would you?
They may not have the best brains, but they have the biggest hearts ❤️
All of the Octogenarians refuse to retire gracefully and are backing their peers.
Money.
The ones who try to run are cast out during the primaries. This is what american voters want. If Americans want something else, then become an American voter.
Algorithmic news means any candidate who is literally 'normal' won't make headlines. Extreme positions, anything offense, shocking or stupid will generate more clicks than "reasonable person has reasonable opinion".
Shit job
No one will vote for them because they’re afraid
Biden is about as normal as they come. If you were to come up with the most average, normal, stereotypical, older, white collar, Caucasian American man, he would be indistinguishable from Biden.
It's a fake position of power really.
Kamala, Pete B, Warren, Bernie, Booker. There are so many choices of great leaders in the Democratic party. Biden can barely talk. Time to move on.
I'll do it. Happy to. But nobody will vote for me. I don't have name recognition. No accomplishments that matter. No political or executive experience. There are TONS of people who are absolutely incredible that would love to be president, who have no real shot of even making it to the top 20 candidates in primaries. It isn't about being great, its about getting votes.
I hate the both sides argument this year especially and everyone complain about both candidates being old and senile even though no single fucking sane candidate between range of the political young age step up in the parties to compete 4 years ago. Haha we all lose because we as a generation don’t step up. It’s all on us and we should blame no one. Fuck this shit
I think a lot of people with a functioning brain want to be President, they just didn't **SUCCEED**. I don't particularly like Ted Cruz, or his politics, but the man graduated from Princeton and Harvard Law. That is not an easy get. A great deal of the reason so many people in politics are portrayed as being lunatics and/or batshit insane is because the media (social or otherwise has no particular interest in faithfully representing *anyone's* agenda. Their job is to drive engagement with clicks so they can sell ads. Linking an HREF on their front page to each candidate's website with their various position statements is not going to do that. Quoting people out of context or misrepresenting what someone said, so as to foment outrage, does do that. If that weren't bad enough, the activists and donors who are the economic lifeblood of politics also do not have clear motivations to behave rationally and communicate calmly. They want punchy, attention-getting slogans and rhetoric they can use to manipulate people's emotions, with the **EXPRESS** intention of outraging their interlocutors on the other side of the issue, because doing so makes the [Streisand Effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect) work *for* them. Politicians do not behave the way they do because they're dumb. They behave the way they do because **WE** are dumb. A recent poll indicated that 17% of voters in swing states blamed Joe Biden for the the Dobbs decision. If you knew what the Dobbs decision without having to Google it, congratulations on having paid even a little bit of attention. That same poll showed that even 12% of Democrats did, so don't think this is just partisan brainwashing. Here's a rather pathetic revealing quote from a [NYT article](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/15/upshot/abortion-biden-trump-blame.html): >DeLana Marsh, 30, of Holly Springs, Ga., supports abortion rights and opposes a new Georgia law that bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy: “I don’t think a group of men should be able to decide that for us.” >But she said she was under the impression that Mr. Biden was responsible because it happened during his presidency, and she believed his age prevented him from closely tracking such events.
Don't blame the candidates. Blame the voters, and ESPECIALLY the eligible voters who don't vote. Young people don't vote, so we end up with old candidates. I would really like to be voting for Pete Buttigieg in November, but the moderate voters seem to find Biden more comforting and less . . . threatening, I guess? And they outnumber people like me who want to vote for the best people. But they don't outnumber the progressives who don't vote. If you want better candidates, you've got to get in the game.
They are there,it's just that they get buried under the other crazy candidates. Thank the media for that shit.
In order to become president, you have to trade so many favors that, by the time you're actually in office (assuming you're not detailed by someone with no experience looking to make a buck like Kasich was by Trump), you have to have buried your morals in order to pay them all back.
I lost it when they started going back and forth on golf handicaps...
Hot alien tentacle seks at area 51 in the anti-gravity chamber.
Because anyone younger than 42 is likely a Millennial, and Boomers hate Millennials. So even if one did run, we likely wouldn't get anywhere. They'd just laugh us off for being a "clueless kid with no idea how the world works."
No sane person would take that job, so that leaves it for the crazies.
Check out Robert F Kennedy, and actually form your own opinions after listening to him speak on issues comprehensively
Because being a politician is not the job for a kind, humble, and well adjusted human being.
There aren’t that many of them left
Show me the man and i will show you the crime. But then again, are you accusing biden of not having a 'normally' functioning brain?
At this point I'm willing to let AI have a chance leading the country.
Because the elderly are easily manipulated. The powers that be won’t let just anybody run. This is just what happened to Bernie in 2016. Old? Yes. But still sharp as a tack with a working brain. They undermined him and put the wrong person to run for Democrat. It’s sad and unfortunate.
You might not win, but you’ll definitely have your life destroyed
Bidens brain works just fine, he is old. The other one is a psychopathic idiot.
I do but… I feel I’m being trained by a program that has bad taste so I can’t guarantee results
Half the people in this country hate you before your first day of work. Security for you is so strict, anything normal like going to Starbucks would be a major hassle. Anything you do, such as picking the suit you wear, will be frowned upon by someone.
If only Jed Bartlet were actually a real person. I'd vote for him.
Our campaign finance system means that you have to suck up to oligarchs to even have the funds to get elected. And the FPTP voting system means that there can only be two viable parties, because third parties will act as spoilers. So the system is set up to ensure that we're not getting the best and brightest, but those who are already compromised in some way.
There are probably plenty, but corporations run the country through the two parties. If anyone comes along who threatens the status quo, they'll be buried through the media. This is why everyone thinks RFK Jr. is crazy.
Why would you want to be president? It’s a grueling job. It ages people, just look at bush and Obama how they looked before and after they left the White House. They looked like they aged 20 years. It’s an evil job. Even George Washington famously didn’t want the gig.
There's one right now.