Why do politicians who are past their sell-by dates run for President?

[Phony Moderate]

Attention-whoring, money, for the sport of it etc are the answers I suppose, but, just for amusement, let's take a look. It seems to get worse over time, also.

1960: Adlai Stevenson (well, maybe he would not have been...if he hadn't already lost two general elections)
1964: Harold Stassen (everyone's favorite. I won't bother listing him again for obvious reasons)
1968: None, really. Nixon may have seemed like one at the time though.
1972: Hubert Humphrey, seriously. He was done after 1968.
1976: Ummm...George Wallace's brand had become stale I guess by this point, plus he'd been shot in '72.
1980: As in 1968, two pretty strong fields of peak politicians...I suppose Connally though comes the closest.
1984: George McGovern! I love the guy but wtf. Also, Mondale was probably politically dead for being VP under Carter.
1988: The Dem field was as weak as goodness knows...but all were at or near their peak. On the Republican side, the clear winner is Alexander Haig.
1992: Eugene McCarthy!
1996: Bob Dole. '88 was his time and he blew it.
2000: Dan Quayle....he likely just wanted the experience of a run after having been forced to decline in '96 through illness
2004: Dick Gephardt
2008: John Edwards, Mike Gravel, Joe Biden (to an extent), Fred Thompson, Jim Gilmore, Tommy Thompson...yeah, this is when the stale candidates game took off
2012: Buddy Roemer, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Gary Johnson
2016: Now this is just silly...potentials include Lincoln Chafee, Jim Webb, Joe Biden, Al Gore, John Kerry, Howard Dean, George Pataki, Mike Huckabee, Bob Ehrlich, Jim Gilmore, Carly Fiorina (not that she was ever in date), Rick Santorum, John Bolton...a more controversial case can be made for a few others too...

[Suburbia]

It's a free country. They bring credentials to the table. It's a free country that's why. The more the merrier. I like it. The presidency is not a monarchy.  I want to see a Pataki presidency.

[Nichlemn]

It ended up all right for a bunch of those people listed. They may not have won the Presidency, but a number did well enough to get some influence (and the VP slot in Biden's case).

[Flake]

It's a free country. They bring credentials to the table. It's a free country that's why. The more the merrier. I like it. The presidency is not a monarchy.  I want to see a Pataki presidency.

But it's a free country

[bobloblaw]

Dirty Little Secret:

When running for President you can raise money and pay yourself a salary equal to the annual salary youd earn in that office. So someone running for Prez can pay themselves $400k per year plus all the goodies.

[Türkisblau]

Honorable mention to WJB 1908.

[Obama-Biden Democrat]

What about Reagan in 1980 ? He lost in 1968 to Nixon, and then in 1976 to Ford. He was 69 years old when he ran for the third time in 1980. His victory was not pre ordained, if things such as the hostage crisis went the other way.

If he had lost in 1980 he could be seen as a 3rd time loser who ran well past his prime.

[Chunk Yogurt for President!]

Didn't Martin van Buren run as a third party candidate long after his administration was over?

[H. Ross Peron]

HHH was hardly "stale" in 1972 or even in 1976.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

HHH was hardly "stale" in 1972 or even in 1976.

Yeah, he won the popular vote in the 1972 primaries, didn't he?

[RINO Tom]

I'm sure they don't think they're past their sell-by dates...  So, that's why they run.

[bobloblaw]

HHH was hardly "stale" in 1972 or even in 1976.

In 76 he was stale as could be. A 1960s liberal who missed the rise of conservatism that started in 1966.