re: #19 ObserverArt

That bit in bold…I’d like to hear your take on why a true first-rate candidate did not enter the fray.

The last sentence of my post is the main reason:

Given the advantages of incumbency in a presidential election, the likelihood was always that Obama would be reelected.

A president running for reelection has an immense advantage over his challenger, given the powers of the office. As a result, presidents as a rule only lose reelection bids if the nation is having economic troubles and they face a primary challenge,

The primary challenge is important because without it the president is free to aim his primary funds at the other party’s leading candidates and he tends to still be well funded during the summer when his challenger is likely short of money. 2012 contained an example of this, as the Romney campaign had to take out a multi-million dollar loan to enable it to function until it could use its general election monies.

With the advantages an incumbent president has, the best contenders in the other party tend to wait till the next election when the sitting president is term-limited out.