June 9, 2023
Long-Shot Presidential Candidates
By Robin M. Itzler
There are several reasons why long-shot marginal candidates, even those with name recognition, run in presidential primaries.
They want “former presidential candidate” on their resume, which can increase speaker fees.
They’re promoting a new book.
They need national exposure to raise money for future campaigns or endeavors.
They want to make history, such as being the first [ fill in the blank ] to run for president. In 1972, long-shot candidate Rep. Shirley Chisholm was the first black to run for the Democrat nomination. Chisholm generated a lot of media attention and spoke at the DNC convention.
They want to participate in at least one debate where they can promote specific policy positions.
They have been encouraged to run by social media followers. Marianne Williamson, running in the Democrat primary, has a half-million TikTok followers. Vivek Ramaswamy, on the Republican side, has 180,000 TikTok followers.
They are so über rich that they can afford to finance their own campaign. Steve Forbes spent $70 million of his family fortune running for the Republican nomination in 1996 and 2000. In 2016, Carly Fiorina spent $25 million of her own money to do the same. Billionaire Michael Bloomberg spent $558 million just on television ads even as his quest for the White House quickly crashed. For 2024, Trump and Ramaswamy are using much of their own wealth to fund their campaigns.
Their spouses want to be First Lady or First Gentleman—even if the spousal candidate has health issues. (For more details, google Jill Biden or Giselle Fetterman.)
And then there’s Harold Stassenmore
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/06/longshot_presidential_candidates.html
