# WHY do nobodies continue to announce they're running for President? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 27, 2019, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nobodies-continue-to-announce-theyre-running-for-president/836155 "2019-06-27T14:21:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2019, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nobodies-continue-to-announce-theyre-running-for-president/836155/21 "2019-06-27T16:24:45Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It is plainly obvious that Tim Ryan and Joe Sestak have no chance at all, so why are they doing this? It is building their brands? Is there a hustle? Are they angling for Cabinet positions? Why would a person work so hard to get shit-kicked in Iowa? I agree. I have no idea why a failed senate candidates, failed presidential candidates and people who haven’t even manged to win state wide office are running for president. The primary would be much better off if only senators and governors were running. I’d also cap the age and say no one over 69 is allowed to run either. Once we eliminated the bums it would allow the viable candidates to get their message out more effectively and we could decide who to run against trump based on platform not name recognition. As for why people are still entering I think its because everyone running looks terrible so a ham sandwich would make a viable candidate in this crowd and all if takes is something going viral and you’ll run against trump and that should be an easy win. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2019, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nobodies-continue-to-announce-theyre-running-for-president/836155/22 "2019-06-27T16:54:27Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > The first time I heard the name Barack Obama I thought the same thing. Uh, that’s plainly nonsense. Barack Obama was touted highly as a presidential candidate ever since his speech to the 2004 Democratic Convention. In the years leading up to the 2008 election campaign, he and Hillary Clinton consistently polled the highest among the potential candidates. It was no shock at all that he won in Iowa. So when he announced his candidacy in Feb. of 2007, only someone who had paid exactly zero attention to what was going on would have considered him a political outsider with no hope. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2019, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nobodies-continue-to-announce-theyre-running-for-president/836155/23 "2019-06-27T16:55:03Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Why? There’s a saying that every Congressmember or Governor who looks in the mirror sees a President. This is true. You don’t get into serious politics unless you are somewhat of a narcissist. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2019, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nobodies-continue-to-announce-theyre-running-for-president/836155/24 "2019-06-27T17:28:56Z")
Hm…it makes me think there might be something other than being president at stake. It might be that they want focus for their issue, and this is the best way. Or it is winning just to be a 2020 contender, and write your book (24 of them coming!?) and have your career unfold. Maybe this is one example of 1. Run 2. ? 3. Profit ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2019, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nobodies-continue-to-announce-theyre-running-for-president/836155/25 "2019-06-27T17:33:04Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > You can also use campaign funds to pay for hotel rooms for you and your campaign staff, to hotels that you own, and which jack up the prices above normal levels so you can transfer larger amounts of money from your donors to yourself. Hypothetical. In the real world, what sort of skunk would try to pull something like that? ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2019, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nobodies-continue-to-announce-theyre-running-for-president/836155/26 "2019-06-27T20:06:03Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > [Not moderating] > You’re counting the mayor of South Bend, Indiana as a “notable upstart”, but the governor of Colorado as a “nobody”? **“But Mayor Pete is a _somebody_ now that’s he getting good poll numbers!”** That’s why “nobodies” run. Because they know it’s possible to become “somebodies” and then be taken seriously by the OP and others. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nobodies-continue-to-announce-theyre-running-for-president/836155/27 "2019-06-28T01:43:54Z")
It depends. Buttigieg is pretty clearly building an image for a future run. Just suppose he follows this up by getting elected as governor of Indiana and does a bang-up job of it. (Recall that Bernie made his name as mayor of Burlington, showing that a socialist could play ball with the business establishment.) Anyway as Governor Pete and, say, 8 years older he might be an obvious candidate. O’Rourke, I am less clear on. Good fund raiser, but so far a failed politician. Gay-busting Gabbard, I have no idea–pure ego trip. Inslee obviously wants to make climate change a major agenda item, but he could not get a carbon tax passed in his bright blue state. Each one has his/her reason, some good, some fatuous. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nobodies-continue-to-announce-theyre-running-for-president/836155/28 "2019-06-28T02:04:04Z")
Who had heard of Harry Truman before he was chosen to be Roosevelt’s running mate? Who the hell was Jimmy Carter, or Bill Clinton? Barack Obama was a state senator who made a rousing speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention, and four years later he was elected. And WTF was this business with shady real estate mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump? Actually, nobodies have a decent track record. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nobodies-continue-to-announce-theyre-running-for-president/836155/29 "2019-06-28T04:32:36Z")
Marianne Williamson had no business being on the debate stage. How did she even qualify? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nobodies-continue-to-announce-theyre-running-for-president/836155/30 "2019-06-28T04:48:29Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Hm…it makes me think there might be something other than being president at stake. > > It might be that they want focus for their issue, and this is the best way. Or it is winning just to be a 2020 contender, and write your book (24 of them coming!?) and have your career unfold. Maybe this is one example of > > 1. Run > 2. ? > 3. Profit 1. Elizabeth Warren had an unauthorized biography published last year (I made it about 20 pages in; it wasn’t very interesting but that was probably just the way it was written) and I’m on a waiting list at the library for this. > **[Shortest Way Home: One Mayor's Challenge and a Model for America's Future:...](https://www.amazon.com/Shortest-Way-Home-Challenge-Americas/dp/1631494368)** > > Shortest Way Home: One Mayor's Challenge and a Model for America's Future \[Buttigieg, Pete\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Shortest Way Home: One Mayor's Challenge and a Model for America's Future ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nobodies-continue-to-announce-theyre-running-for-president/836155/31 "2019-06-28T15:03:32Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Marianne Williamson had no business being on the debate stage. How did she even qualify? I guess her book fans donated enough to get her over the 65k donors needed . ---
**Author:** ![txjim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@txjim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txjim)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nobodies-continue-to-announce-theyre-running-for-president/836155/32 "2019-06-28T15:12:05Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > [Not moderating] > You’re counting the mayor of South Bend, Indiana as a “notable upstart”, but the governor of Colorado as a “nobody”? Well, they were both on _Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me_ on NPR. Coincidence? i think not! ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2019, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nobodies-continue-to-announce-theyre-running-for-president/836155/33 "2019-06-29T06:43:12Z")
Because if you run for governor of a state, you might actually win. Running for the highest office in the land is a little like being a super-fan of an unattainable celebrity: devotion without real commitment. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2019, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nobodies-continue-to-announce-theyre-running-for-president/836155/34 "2019-06-29T07:03:28Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > …the poster candidate for the longshots is not really Obama, who was a) a senator when he ran and b) well known for his 2004 nomination speech, which was extraordinarily well received when he made it. It’s Bill Clinton, and especially Jimmy Carter, little-known governors of not-especially-large states who knocked aside better-known and better-funded candidates in the primaries to win the nomination and ultimately the Presidency… Jimmy Carter is really a special case. What helped him rise to the top was [ul] [li]pretty much universal disgust with Nixon because of Watergate[/li][li]outrage with Ford for giving Nixon a pardon[/li][li]Carter being a Southerner who was open about his “born-again” Christianity[/li][li]and the economy being in the shitter[/li][/ul] Keep in mind this was just prior to the Moral Majority so Evangelicals had not become completely joined at the hip to the GOP. Also, anti-abortion groups such as Operation Rescue had yet to really come into power. Carter was seen as a fresh face and (wait for it) outsider in the corrupt swamp that was Washington. ETA - this was the last election where being a Southern Democrat was seen as compatible with also being conservative and and evangelical. In 1980 Reagan changed that and there was a wave of Southern Democrats who switched to the GOP. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2019, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nobodies-continue-to-announce-theyre-running-for-president/836155/35 "2019-06-29T14:26:31Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The turning point in Obama’s ascendancy was his huge victory in the US Senate Democratic primary in 2004 bolstered by his famous keynote address a few months later at the Democratic National Convention. Few had heard of him before that, but after those events he was considered a major star within the Democratic establishment for the four years until his nomination for the presidency. He never ran for president as a “nobody”. Absolutely. His name had already been thrown around for an eventual run for a few years already by the time he announced his candidacy. I think the surprise was that he ran in 2008 because it was expected that he would run in 2012 or later. > [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > That being said, the poster candidate for the longshots is not really Obama, who was a) a senator when he ran and b) well known for his 2004 nomination speech, which was extraordinarily well received when he made it. It’s Bill Clinton, and especially Jimmy Carter, little-known governors of not-especially-large states who knocked aside better-known and better-funded candidates in the primaries to win the nomination and ultimately the Presidency. Yeah, going back to the twentieth century for the last example of an obscure politician winning the Democratic nomination doesn’t bode real well for the obscures currently running. Clinton was only 3 presidents ago. Still highly relevant. I agree with the above posters that say that many of these candidates are setting themselves up for later, and it’s a strategy that can benefit both the candidates and the voters. I doubt Buttigieg will win this nomination, but when he runs again, whether it be for president, governor, or dogcatcher, we will all have gotten past our initial reactions of, “aw, he’s adorable,” and “how the hell do you pronounce that” and we’ll be ready to hear what he has to say. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2019, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nobodies-continue-to-announce-theyre-running-for-president/836155/36 "2019-06-29T19:44:18Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > The first time I heard the name Barack Obama I thought the same thing. That’s simply not true. I was on this board in 2004 and after the keynote speech, there was plenty of discussion calling him a future president [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ueMNqdB1QIE/hqdefault.jpg "Obama's 2004 DNC keynote speech") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueMNqdB1QIE) ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2019, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nobodies-continue-to-announce-theyre-running-for-president/836155/37 "2019-06-29T19:55:54Z")
NM-dupe of above, hamsters being cranky today ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2019, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nobodies-continue-to-announce-theyre-running-for-president/836155/38 "2019-06-29T22:47:18Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > That’s simply not true. I was on this board in 2004 and after the keynote speech, there was plenty of discussion calling him a future president And after that keynote address, his book Dreams from My Father was re-released (although it was originally published in 1995. So he definitely became prominent nationally that year. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nobodies-continue-to-announce-theyre-running-for-president/836155/39 "2019-06-30T03:10:21Z")
It’s all the sharing part of being a democratic-socialist or whatever they’re branding themselves this week. There will be four co-presidents and eight co-vice-presidents. ---
**Author:** ![TimfromNapa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TimfromNapa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimfromNapa)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nobodies-continue-to-announce-theyre-running-for-president/836155/40 "2019-07-01T20:09:46Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > As of today, approximately seven hundred thousand people have formally announced they seek the Democratic nomination for President. Even semi-serious candidates had to be sorted into two groups of ten to get them all into TV debates. > > While the horde includes well known candidates like Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden and notable upstarts like Pete Buttiegieg (sp?) Julian Castro and Beto O’Rourke, it is largely composed of interchangeable white guys with names such as John Hickenlooper, Michael Bennet, John Delaney, David Naylor, and Seth Moulton, and be honest, you had to read that twice to figure out which of those names I made up. > > It is plainly obvious that Tim Ryan and Joe Sestak have no chance at all, so why are they doing this? It is building their brands? Is there a hustle? Are they angling for Cabinet positions? Why would a person work so hard to get shit-kicked in Iowa? I think Trump lowered the bar to the point that everbody thinks they have a chance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nobodies-continue-to-announce-theyre-running-for-president/836155.md?page=1)