Are crowded fields or "clown cars" the new norm?

[President Johnson]

With more and more Republican candidates declaring for 2024 despite having de facto no chance, this sort of reminds of 2012 and 2016 on the Republican and 2020 on the Democratic side. Are crowded fields or "clown cars" the new norm? Especially for the out-party, I might add.

Polarization in my view is an important driver here, because the current president these days always seems to draw extreme opposition from the other side and therefore many politicians are eager to replace him and move into a vastly different direction. And because polarization leads to medicore approval ratings, ergo the incumbent either looks vulnerable for reelection or - when term-limited - seems an albatross on his party's neck. Other than an incumbent running, only the party in power is unlikely to have crowded field because even with the sitting president term-limited, some members of his inner circle (most likely the vice presidents) seems to be a strong frontrunner that scares off more candidates to run against.

There were crowded fields before as well, but less frequently. Even Democrats in 1992 and Republicans in 2000 had less candidates running.

[Mr. Smith]

I mean, barring a few odd-circumstances [like 1988 Dems], clown-cars have worked out better for than coronations, with the only exception being the incumbent President.

A candidate ought be battle-tested, and coronated ones usually aren't.

[Del Tachi]

I do think this is a trend, but it has more to do with how flush candidates are with money and free media in our current age.  Most of these people running are not really serious candidates, but the exposure they're able to get serves them well in other political or money-making schemes. 

[Mister Mets]

Probably. It's cheap for candidates to run, and even if they have no shot of winning, it can help their reputation.

I don't know if Pete Buttigieg would've been in the cabinet if he didn't have a strong showing in the primary.

Andrew Yang became famous for good and bad.

The main counter would be an aggressive pushback against anyone who is obviously not a serious contender.

[Sir Mohamed]

Yup, it looks like.

An overlooked factor might be social media and online activities. These days it's much easier to connect with a large group of people all across the country. In earlier decades, you needed to gain all your name ID from personally showing up and local newspapers, radio & TV stations.

[Skill and Chance]

Yup, it looks like.

An overlooked factor might be social media and online activities. These days it's much easier to connect with a large group of people all across the country. In earlier decades, you needed to gain all your name ID from personally showing up and local newspapers, radio & TV stations.

Yes, I think the crowded fields fundamentally happen because of the internet.

[Bismarck]

It’s an easy way to raise your profile, sell a book, or get a cabinet position.