Why in hell would anybody run for the Presidency of the United States?
Is it a craving for power? A longing for attention? Vanity? To increase fame and fortune? All of it?
Don’t the candidates realize that if they run for office their background is going to be scrutinized like never before?
Don’t they understand that hundreds of highly motivated warrior ants are going to dig in their past and unearth all their carefully concealed secrets?
Don’t they know that their opponents can and will hit them repeatedly below the belt?
Seasoned politicians know that and stay safely on the sidelines.
But some so-called “captains of industry” obviously are not aware of this and will try to prove that they know better than anybody else.
The reality is that when it comes to politics, businessmen are babes in the woods.
When you are running a corporation, very few people will dare to challenge you. Everybody will kowtow to you. Yes sir, absolutely sir.
But in the political arena, it is a totally different story.
Anybody can and will attack you, and you cannot simply subdue an opponent by firing him.
A political fight between a businessman and a seasoned politico is more like a confrontation between a gladiator and a shopkeeper.
The gladiator knows how to wield a sword and will use it skillfully. The shopkeeper only knows how to protect himself with a shield of shysters and this tactic does not work well under the burning sun of the public arena.
The reality is that the path to the White House is littered with the bodies of “know better” magnates.
In the age of ubiquitous electronic devices, it becomes more and more difficult to hide your true persona. Everything you have (even unknowingly) said or written will come back and haunt you.
And the closer you get to the finish line the hotter it gets. Like live grenades embarrassing questions will be lobbed at you and pop all around you.
Did you always pay your taxes? Did you ever cheat on your wife? Are you a misogynist? Have you ever used drugs? Do you have a criminal record? Are you hiding money abroad?
Politicians know that it is the nail that sticks out that will be hammered down. Businessmen don’t seem to be aware of that. They will learn that success in business does not necessarily translate into political success.
And in case of defeat their lifelong reputation will be tarnished forever.
No one is a prophet in his own country, but I am willing to bet my virginity that the bloodied body of the intellectually-challenged businessman is going to be carried out in a stretcher at the end of the fight.
Alain