# Do you think that we'll have this many debates between Obama and the Republican nominee? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 16, 2011, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-that-well-have-this-many-debates-between-obama-and-the-republican-nominee/606389 "2011-12-16T07:19:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![emcee2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emcee2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emcee2k)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-that-well-have-this-many-debates-between-obama-and-the-republican-nominee/606389/21 "2011-12-19T23:26:55Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I missed the edit window while I was doing it, but a quick google shows that of the 44 people who have been president, at least a dozen were not on the ballot for re-election after their first term. Some may have simply not been nominated by their party, I suppose, but not all. LBJ is the most recent POTUS who didn’t run for re-election after this first term. Nitpick: Only 43 people have been president. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-that-well-have-this-many-debates-between-obama-and-the-republican-nominee/606389/22 "2011-12-20T01:03:12Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Sure. It isn’t a part of his job. It’s only the job of a candidate for POTUS. I know of nothing that mandates a sitting President must run again. Hardly anything the President does is mandated. Most of the things a President does all day long are not mandated, but everybody expects the President to do them. They’re part of his job as the job has come to be defined de facto over the past 200+ years. And so is running for re-election. You probably don’t remember when Johnson decided not to run, but that rocked the country. And he wasn’t even a true one-term president since he served part of the previous president’s term. So did the last president before him not to seek re-election, Calvin Coolidge. You have to go back to the 19th century and a different political world to find a true one-term president by choice. The president is leader of the party and is responsible for ensuring the party’s continuity and success. Not running for re-election would be fatal. Of course it’s part of his job, just as it’s Mitch McConnell’s job to say that his job is to make Obama a one-term president. Saying anything else is folly. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-that-well-have-this-many-debates-between-obama-and-the-republican-nominee/606389/23 "2011-12-20T03:43:47Z")
> [@emcee2k](#): > > Nitpick: Only 43 people have been president. Yeah, yeah, Cleveland counts twice. ---
**Author:** ![InterestedObserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@InterestedObserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InterestedObserver)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-that-well-have-this-many-debates-between-obama-and-the-republican-nominee/606389/24 "2011-12-29T04:48:40Z")
All I know is I’m bummed. ☹ I was really looking forward to at least a few Bachmann or Cain or Gingrich VS Obama debates…with Romney, it will still be an easy win for Obama but hardly the bloodbath I was hoping for. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-that-well-have-this-many-debates-between-obama-and-the-republican-nominee/606389/25 "2011-12-29T05:14:41Z")
Depending on the political leanings of whatever 3rd party candidates emerge, I expect more “Republican” debates, between the GOP candidate and one or more conservative independent candidates (I don’t see a left independent candidate popping up). At a minimum, I don’t think Mitt Romney (assuming he gets the nod) has seen the last of Ron Paul. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-that-well-have-this-many-debates-between-obama-and-the-republican-nominee/606389/26 "2011-12-29T15:01:49Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The president is leader of the party and is responsible for ensuring the party’s continuity and success. Not running for re-election would be fatal. Of course it’s part of his job, just as it’s Mitch McConnell’s job to say that his job is to make Obama a one-term president. Saying anything else is folly. 😕 Has any other majority leader said his job was to make the sitting President a one-termer? Was McConnell the only one doing his job? The President works for _us_, not for his party, whichever it may be. He’s the President of the United States, not the President of the X Party. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-that-well-have-this-many-debates-between-obama-and-the-republican-nominee/606389.md?page=1)