re: #326 Backwoods_Sleuth

he’s a state senator in West Virginia, he just lost a race for the US House

See, that’s the thing. Thanks to (among other factors) reality TV and “durr hurr, damn the actual consequences, this is a win for _____” punditry, I don’t believe losing candidates have any sort of realistic presidential aspirations.

The Cult of Win so prevalent in America now means that anyone who prevails is seen as somehow redeemed or strengthened, no matter how grotesque they were before. Conversely, a good person who loses (e.g. Beto) eventually becomes best-known as just that - loser :/

As I said before, I can’t think of a single losing candidate in recent history who went on to bigger, better things (last I think was George HW Bush). Mitt Romney is sort of a wash, but then again, he did at least win one high-profile race in the past (MA Gov).

Winning begets winning, power begets power. Losing does the exact opposite.