# Why would any sane person want to be the next potus? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 5, 2019, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-any-sane-person-want-to-be-the-next-potus/841322 "2019-10-05T19:30:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-any-sane-person-want-to-be-the-next-potus/841322/41 "2019-10-07T14:24:12Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > I don’t think I’m qualified for the office of president, but if the World Dictator position opens, I’m available. Well then you have 10,000 people wanting to assassinate you instead of 500. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-any-sane-person-want-to-be-the-next-potus/841322/42 "2019-10-07T14:48:20Z")
As has been mentioned, #46 will have the easiest presidency ever. Skeletons fabricated/dug out of your closet? Do Not Feed The Trolls–just ignore the reports and they will go away. No need to worry about getting consensus from congress–Obama demonstrated the futility of working with an unrepentantly obstructionist congress, Trump demonstrated that it doesn’t have to be a barrier to the agenda. So just put together an innocuous/progressive agenda that feels good in real time to actual citizens and ram that chocolate covered strawberry down the nation’s throat, ignore the complainers. All the while your own propaganda machine focuses on celebrating various populations within the USA and their contributions to the overall cultural mosaic in which we live. Suffer no negativity from within the administration–All Americans are fantastic, our motives are the purest, supporters of the previous administration are not to be faulted–they were lied to and conned, Trump and his allies were the real villains. And if the new administration falls short of perfect, meh, just keep doing what you’re doing because there’ll always be someone who loves you, someone who hates you, and someone who is just happy to not be going off to war. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-any-sane-person-want-to-be-the-next-potus/841322/43 "2019-10-07T15:48:21Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Well then you have 10,000 people wanting to assassinate you instead of 500. Only 10,000? I must be doing a good job. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-any-sane-person-want-to-be-the-next-potus/841322/44 "2019-10-07T16:45:17Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > It’s a position of tremendous power and influence. The pay - $400,000 a year - would be considered fantastic by 99% of Americans. You get to fly aboard the VC-25. You get to enact - or, at least - try to enact whatever policies you’ve always wanted to see happen but never happened. You eat great food. You get access to classified secrets that many yearn to know but will never know. You leave your mark on history. You get books written about you, any tweet or Facebook post you make will be read by millions… > > What’s \*\*\*not \*\*\*to like? 400k seems like a great salary to me until I found out that they don’t live in the White House completely free. There are considerable expenses. Of course you can make up for it later. Even presidents like Clinton and Obama who were of relatively modest means can leave the WH as millionaires. Being president has to suck on many levels but being ex-president is the best job in the world. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-any-sane-person-want-to-be-the-next-potus/841322/45 "2019-10-07T17:09:48Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I remember how happy Jimmy Carter looked going being elected in 1980 then look at him just 4 years later with the Iran crisis. That’s funny…I remember Ronald Reagan getting elected in 1980. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-any-sane-person-want-to-be-the-next-potus/841322/46 "2019-10-07T17:31:18Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > For a President, hubris isn’t a flaw - it’s a prerequisite. Even the very best Presidents had a massive ego and an ironclad belief in their own abilities, because otherwise they’d be paralyzed. True. That’s part of the problem. Anybody we elect is going to be at least somewhat like that; because nobody else is even going to run. I’ve been unable to think of a way to write into law a requirement that wanting the office disqualifies a person from holding it. If I could figure out how to write it, I’d have been arguing for it – though you may have a point that someone with insufficient hubris to willingly run might also be unable to function in the office. I hadn’t thought of that. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-any-sane-person-want-to-be-the-next-potus/841322/47 "2019-10-07T18:25:07Z")
“Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.” - Shakespeare “I always wondered why somebody doesn’t do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody.” -Lily Tomlin ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-any-sane-person-want-to-be-the-next-potus/841322/48 "2019-10-07T18:55:39Z")
When Sarah Palin was put in as a VP candidate they the next day 150 reporters showed up at the small town in Alaska where she lived. They interviewed everyone they could to dig up any dirt she had on her. I think that has been what has scared off some worthy potential presidents - the knowledge they will sift thru your, your spouse, and all your families AND your ancestors past to find anything they can. Remember when they brought up how Arnold Schwarzenegger’s father was a nazi. Remember when they made a deal of Jimmy Cater’s brother Billy’s drinking? Remember the fact Hillary had been to Trumps wedding? Oh and they will go after your business associates AND your kids associates. Remember how they went after Obama’s pastor? And it doesnt matter how long ago or how old you were. Remember how they brought up a charge against a supreme court nominee that happened 34 years earlier when he was 17? So maybe they did something stupid in their past and dont want it brought up. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-any-sane-person-want-to-be-the-next-potus/841322/49 "2019-10-07T19:41:55Z")
> [@rsat3acr](#): > > so I could appoint people to the Supreme Court that used the Constitution not the bible to rule on cases. The Senate might have something to say about that. Which is kind of the issue. Maybe I have the greatest ideas in the world (I don’t) but it’s President, not Dictator. Getting your agenda enacted is the definition of success in a President. And - > [@Warren G Harding](#): > > I have no trouble with my enemies. I can take care of my enemies in a fight. But my friends, my goddamned friends, they’re the ones who keep me walking the floor at nights! > [@Ethilrist](#): > > Trump has really lowered the bar, so it’d be hard not to look awesome in his wake. I don’t think people generally refer to Jerry Ford as an awesome President. If Pence is the next POTUS, the Democrats will go after him just as hard as they did Trump, and for the same reasons. If Biden or Warren or Pelosi is the next POTUS, the Republicans will go after them just as hard as the Democrats did against Trump, and for the same reasons. I could never be President, for a wide variety of reasons. I don’t want to be President, for those reasons and a lot more. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-any-sane-person-want-to-be-the-next-potus/841322/50 "2019-10-07T21:23:41Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I don’t think people generally refer to Jerry Ford as an awesome President. And for good reason: he was a vile piece of shit who only ended up in the White House because he chose to work for a slightly more vile piece of shit. He received far fewer votes than even Trump. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-any-sane-person-want-to-be-the-next-potus/841322/51 "2019-10-07T22:32:27Z")
I wouldn’t. But then again politician isn’t one of the career paths I followed or my family’s business. If it had been --------- maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-any-sane-person-want-to-be-the-next-potus/841322/52 "2019-10-07T22:37:40Z")
I wouldnt mind being in local politics and helping my city, county, or state. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-any-sane-person-want-to-be-the-next-potus/841322/53 "2019-10-08T00:44:55Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-any-sane-person-want-to-be-the-next-potus/841322/54 "2019-10-08T15:19:20Z")
Which kind of speaks to my point. “Lowering the bar” so that the next President is judged by a different standard isn’t really a thing for partisans. Ford was “a vile piece of shit”, Pence would be “a vile piece of shit”. Lather, rinse, repeat. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-any-sane-person-want-to-be-the-next-potus/841322/55 "2019-10-08T20:19:56Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Which kind of speaks to my point. “Lowering the bar” so that the next President is judged by a different standard isn’t really a thing for partisans. Ford was “a vile piece of shit”, Pence would be “a vile piece of shit”. Lather, rinse, repeat. > > Regards, > Shodan So democrats can get by saying “well ANYONE is better than Trump”. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-any-sane-person-want-to-be-the-next-potus/841322/56 "2019-10-09T03:51:59Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Which kind of speaks to my point. “Lowering the bar” so that the next President is judged by a different standard isn’t really a thing for partisans. Ford was “a vile piece of shit”, Pence would be “a vile piece of shit”. Lather, rinse, repeat. Jerry Ford wasn’t seen as a “vile piece of shit” so much as a former fashion model and football player who was hit in the head a few times too many. The Ev & Jerry show was entertaining, too. But [del]Pencil-dick[/del] Pence actually IS a vile piece of shit. His religion pushes infanticide, genocide, and slavery, so what can we expect? Tramp really has lowered the bar. Making Dubya look good takes talent. ---
**Author:** ![bmasters1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@bmasters1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmasters1)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-any-sane-person-want-to-be-the-next-potus/841322/57 "2019-10-09T10:36:44Z")
> [@Alpha\_Twit](#): > > Even for a relatively sane and honorable POTUS, they literally can’t do _anything_ without pissing somebody off. Imagine have to choose between having chicken salad vs tuna salad for lunch and knowing that whatever you choose, letters, E-mails and petitions are going to fly questioning your intelligence, your morals, your very soul. EVERY choice you make, every act you perform and somebody hates you for it. > > I’m with the OP on this. IOW, I think of it this way: you go one way, you’re under fire; you go another way, you’re under fire. Go north, you’re under fire; south, you’re under fire; east, you’re under fire; and west, you’re still under fire. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-any-sane-person-want-to-be-the-next-potus/841322/58 "2019-10-09T10:52:58Z")
> [@bmasters1](#): > > IOW, I think of it this way: you go one way, you’re under fire; you go another way, you’re under fire. Go north, you’re under fire; south, you’re under fire; east, you’re under fire; and west, you’re still under fire. To continue: Stay put and you’re under even more fire. Even when it logically and defensively is the smart move, we’re hardwired to perceive apparent inaction as equivalent to indecision. When you’re being pummeled with a 1,000 different flavors of “DO SOMETHING!”, you factor in the toxicity of Dubya’s “Stay the course.” and you recognize that any choice you make probably means pain for someone - hard pass on that hot mess. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-any-sane-person-want-to-be-the-next-potus/841322/59 "2019-10-09T12:43:55Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > But [del]Pencil-dick[/del] Pence actually IS a vile piece of shit. His religion pushes infanticide, genocide, and slavery, so what can we expect? At least he won’t be on twitter all the time. Baby steps. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-any-sane-person-want-to-be-the-next-potus/841322/60 "2019-10-09T15:33:47Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > Jerry Ford wasn’t seen as a “vile piece of shit” so much as… His first act was to pardon Nixon, effectively endorsing his behavior as a president & human being. How you can do that without placing yourself on the same level is not clear. He was a POS, and everything he fumbled afterward was smeared with it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-any-sane-person-want-to-be-the-next-potus/841322.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-any-sane-person-want-to-be-the-next-potus/841322.md?page=4)