# Why don't YOU run for political office? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 26, 2010, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-run-for-political-office/530458 "2010-02-26T00:29:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-run-for-political-office/530458/61 "2010-02-26T19:24:57Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Reminds me of a quote which (dim memory) I will probably butcher and have no attribution for but it goes something like: > > \*“Those too smart to run for public office are doomed to be ruled by people dumber than they are.” > \* “The punishment wise men suffer, who refuse to take part in government, is to suffer under a government of worse men.” - Plato And consider: “If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost.” - Aristotle “Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.” - Thomas Paine “In America, anyone can become President, and that’s just the risk you take.” - Will Rogers “In 1929 the wise, far-seeing electors of my native Hereford sent me to Westminster and, two years later, the lousy bastards kicked me out.” - Frank Owen “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others which have been tried from time to time.” - Winston Churchill “Democracy is more than two wolves and a lamb deciding what to have for dinner.” – James Bovard ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-run-for-political-office/530458/62 "2010-02-26T20:06:24Z")
“The person who wants the presidency most, should be the last person to get the job.” ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-run-for-political-office/530458/63 "2010-02-26T21:54:20Z")
To hold political office means becoming a public figure. I’m not about to give up my cherished privacy. I don’t like the idea of people poking into my background, making critical (but not considered slanderous) comments about me, distorting my record, etc. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-run-for-political-office/530458/64 "2010-02-26T22:08:56Z")
I do not believe in god ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-run-for-political-office/530458/65 "2010-02-26T22:59:43Z")
> [@ChrisBooth12](#): > > I do not believe in god I live in the district of the only avowed atheist in Congress, so I can’t use this excuse. My problem is that I have a terrible memory for faces, and would probably not recognize the guy who just gave me a bunch of money. I also don’t like cocktail parties very much. I have worked for a few campaigns (all losers, I’m happy to say) so if I had time for politics that’s the way I’d go. ---
**Author:** ![Stoneburg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Stoneburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoneburg)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-run-for-political-office/530458/66 "2010-02-26T23:16:44Z")
I did, I am and I recommend it. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-run-for-political-office/530458/67 "2010-02-26T23:20:54Z")
I just want to say that I think the ‘I don’t believe in God’ excuse to be, well, lame. Unless you are going to wear your atheism as a badge and plan to beat people over the head with it I don’t think it would really be a factor. No candidate comes out and says “I’m into adultery and plan to scrump anything in a skirt that moves” after all, and yet many of them do this. No candidate gives a speech saying “Special interests? Bring on the MOOOLAH!” either, yet some do it anyway. Being an atheist is only a bar if you are silly enough to run in a heavily religious state and come right out and tell everyone your thoughts on the subject. Myself, if I were stupid enough to run for office, I’d simply focus my campaign on other issues and if directly asked I’d calmly tell the reporter asking to go fuck themselves…but in a diplomatic way, of course. Well…probably not, which only further highlights my own unsuitability for public office. -XT ---
**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:** [February 26, 2010, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-run-for-political-office/530458/68 "2010-02-26T23:28:37Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > I’m too conservative to be a Democrat (anti-abortion, anti-embryonic stem cell research to name two issues) and too liberal to be a Republican (pro gun control, pro-UHC, pro taxes). I’m not wealthy enough to run without party support. And I like my current job. See, I would love for people like you to run. (You pretty much have my mom’s stance on those issues. :)) The media want us to think that the opposite position on each of those issues is the “moderate” take. ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-run-for-political-office/530458/69 "2010-02-26T23:34:28Z")
The honest answer for me, and I would wager for just about everyone else, is “I would lose.” It would take a lot of time & money & I know next to nothing about politics other than my half-assed armchair analysis. I’m sure people look at political work and think “Anyone could do this!” but I would imagine the devil is in the details and when you see what actually goes in to getting elected, most of us would fall short. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-run-for-political-office/530458/70 "2010-02-26T23:37:25Z")
Here is my political scientist answer. The expected utility of my victory less the costs of candidacy is strictly less than the expected utility I would get from almost any other candidate winning. It’s much more efficient just to let someone else run who has a good chance of winning, who has to foot the bill himself, and whose policy preferences aren’t _all_ that different from mine. I don’t run for office because I prefer to free ride where possible, just like everyone else. If Lyndon LaRouche were running for Tyrant unopposed, the above condition would obviously fail and I would be handing out flyers on the subway. I would further hope my political enemies don’t manage to dig up my Bar Mitzvah video or something equally humiliating. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-run-for-political-office/530458/71 "2010-02-26T23:37:48Z")
Besides the fact that no one would vote for me (I’m a fiscal conservative and an atheist), I wouldn’t want to take the pay cut. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-run-for-political-office/530458/72 "2010-02-27T00:08:19Z")
'Cause I don’t wanna. Aside from that, aside from being male, white, straight, and still having all my limbs and most of my faculties, pretty much everything about me separately and individually makes me unelectable, much less when taken in combination. Particularly here in Idaho. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-run-for-political-office/530458/73 "2010-02-27T00:23:33Z")
I have considered it, and I would not be a bad fit where I live. However, I spent some time as the head of the local soccer youth group. During that time I was reminded that around 10% of y’all SUCK. Unfortunately, that 10% takes up an inordinate amount of time just to keep quiet enough so that real work can be done. If I went into politics, sooner or later that 10% would be calling to request / complain / agitate / etc. I would be forced to either be nice to everyone, or finally tell someone to piss up a rope. I would be happy to serve, and I have considered it as a final career, once my sons are out of college. But I will have to have a good strategy for dealing with some of the idiots out there. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-run-for-political-office/530458/74 "2010-02-27T03:06:07Z")
> [@Stoneburg](#): > > I did, I am and I recommend it. May we know for which office(s), and how frequently successful? ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-run-for-political-office/530458/75 "2010-02-27T04:29:19Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Before you do, take a look at some photos that are readily available on the web… > “Before and After” pictures of various former presidents. They go into the White House looking fit and strong. Four or eight years later, they have aged. They REALLY aged. You gotta wonder, why would anyone willingly put themselves through that. No matter what you do, it will be wrong. No matter what happens anywhere in the world, it will be your fault. You will be well and totally screwed. It just isn’t worth it. Run like hell. Perhaps but I have a moral duty to improve society and the human condition and I say “d\*\*\* the press.” In fact were I president I would give special privileges (for example interviews) to decent news sources like PBS NewsHour or BBC. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-run-for-political-office/530458/76 "2010-02-27T07:17:55Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > Perhaps but I have a moral duty to improve society and the human condition and I say “d\*\*\* the press.” In fact were I president I would give special privileges (for example interviews) to decent news sources like PBS NewsHour or BBC. I see you’re practising your censorship skills already. And I don’t run for office because A) I wasn’t born here and as soon as that comes out I’ve got no chance of being elected (the last NZer who ended up as Premier of QLD turned the place into a police state), I tend to be fairly anti-“Trendy” things like caring about the environment, and I think Imperialism and Colonialism were (and could still be) good things. Realistically, the only way I would have any chance of being elected as an independent (because I don’t really like any of the main political parties) would be to run as a candidate in some remote Outback electorate that encompasses an area the size of Belgium but only has something like 20,000 people in it. And even then, I’d be running against the incumbent, so I’d still have no chance because the incumbents in ultra-rural electorates tend to be fairly well known and have a lot of support, especially if they’ve been doing a good job for any length of time. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-run-for-political-office/530458/77 "2010-02-27T08:21:14Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > That, and my campaign would probably be over the first time I used the phrase “those fuckers” to refer to the current government. > :dubious: These days? That will get you votes from the right and the left. And probable most of the center as well. I have thought about it. But I am not a people person, and I do not suffer fools well. Plus I am a Democrat in a very Red part of Ohio. A couple of years ago, a young woman ran here in this district for State Representative. She grew up here, went to high school here, and moved back here when she got out of college. But she was a conservative Democrat and couldn’t even win the town she grew up in, never mind the entire district. I can’t remember the last time we actually had to have a primary for Democrats for local offices. It is usually a surprise if even one runs for an office. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-run-for-political-office/530458.md?page=3)