Why seek office?
We certainly would never question the right of someone to run for public office, whether he or she would seek a seat on a local school board or the presidency of the United States.
We do, however, wonder about the motives of some of the Democrats who have decided to run for president, as there are now approximately 20 in the race.
University of New Hampshire polling data released this week shows that some of the confirmed Democratic candidates are literally registering zero percent at this time. At least one of these individuals has been campaigning in New Hampshire for multiple months, yet seemingly has nothing to show for it.
Surely, some of these individuals will drop out of the race when it becomes clear they are simply not going to get anywhere with it. Still, we again emphasize they have every right to keep running for as long as they can.
We are, however, reminded of an interesting situation from a few years ago at one of The Telegraph’s sister publications in West Virginia. At the time, there was a special election for governor because the seat was left open when the sitting governor resigned.
During the campaign, several Democrats and Republicans decided to jump into the race. Editors at The Intelligencer of Wheeling, West Virginia decided to host a candidate forum at a local community college to allow voters to hear from those hoping to be the next governor.
One of the candidates who attended this forum appeared to have consumed multiple adult beverages before making his way to the event. When it was his turn to talk during the forum, he pulled a compact disc from one of his jacket pockets.
This gentleman then informed the entire audience that his main goal in running for governor was to promote an album he had recently recorded.
The point is that in at least one instance, a person admitted to running to be governor of a state to simply promote himself. He knew he stood very little, if any, chance of actually winning. His only goal was to gain a stage through which he could advance himself in another way.
We are not sure if some of the Democrats now running for president understand they have virtually no hope of winning. However, they may not care, so long as they get a platform to advance their personal agendas.