Mitt Romney & Massachusetts

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

There's a reason Romney didn't run for re-election.

Yeah, because he was gearing up for a Presidential run. Romney probably knew going into his first term that he wouldn't seek reelection.

So you basically admitted Romney cared only about getting a platform to launch his presidential run and wasted about half of his term pissing off his constituents in order to make better terms with out-of-Massachusetts Republican base.

That's exactly a man with commitment.

Whatever bad thing you can say about Bachmann, I can bet she didn't come to the office in 2007 with "oh, I'll just serve out three terms and then I will run for President" plan.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Further, retiring from the office of Governor never helps a Presidential candidate. I recall that George W. Bush has his eyes on the White House in 1998, but he didn't leave the office of Governor until his election as President.

I read somewhere that Clinton seriously considered retiring as Governor in 1990 in order to have more time to prepare for his presidential bid, but decided against it. He probably knew that's not good idea.

Of course there were former Governors who get elected, like Carter and Reagan. But Carter was term-limited in 1975 and Reagan, while technically permitted to run for third term, already served two, instead of one (and didn't spend half of his Governorship like Mitt did).

Also, outside of the governor's circle, can you imagine Hillary retiring in 2006 due to 2008 presidential bid? Edwards did retire in 2004 but because he couldn't for White House and reelection at the same time.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Also, outside of the governor's circle, can you imagine Hillary retiring in 2006 due to 2008 presidential bid? Edwards did retire in 2004 but because he couldn't for White House and reelection at the same time.

Is that a state law? Biden did it in 2008.

I'd need to check that. Johnson in 1960, Bentsen in 1988, Lieberman in 2000 and Biden in 2008 all ran for both Vice Presidency and Senate at the same time.

However, running for both President and Senate at the same time would be pretty controversial and, thus, politically risky.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Also, outside of the governor's circle, can you imagine Hillary retiring in 2006 due to 2008 presidential bid? Edwards did retire in 2004 but because he couldn't for White House and reelection at the same time.

Is that a state law? Biden did it in 2008.

I'd need to check that. Johnson in 1960, Bentsen in 1988, Lieberman in 2000 and Biden in 2008 all ran for both Vice Presidency and Senate at the same time.

However, running for both President and Senate at the same time would be pretty controversial and, thus, politically risky.

^^^^
This.

And mind you that a lot states have their own laws in regard to election laws.  I remember when we were doing Americana my character (Scott Westman) couldn't run for re-election to the US Senate for Montana while also running for President because there was no part of Montana state law that allowed him to run for two offices at once.  Sure, that's a fictional example but I'm pretty sure other examples exist in real life.

We kind of repeated that in a continuation, when Jefferson Dent's seat was up for reelection in 1992 and he, instead of retiring, moved to the Governor's office in 1990.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Also, it's just a guess, but I'm pretty sure Kerry decided against running again in 2008 because of his seat being open this year.

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Many potential candidates are not running because their currently held offices are up for reelection at the same time.

House members are reluctant to run for President partially for this reason (term is just two years), beside, of course, lacking in most of the cases statewide political machines.

Before it was recently repealed, Florida was a severe case with "resign-to-run" law. That's why Graham waited until 2004, when he wanted retire anyway. That's why Reubin Askew, despite being talked as a national candidate for years, never actually ran while Governor (and in 1984 he was already yesterday's news).

Outside of Florida, Daschle long considered bid in 2004 failed to materialise primarily due to his South Dakota seat being up the very same November (he eventually lost anyway).