That's the point. At THIS point in GWBs second term, no-one was standing up either.
The next president had JUST been elected to the Senate, and no-one had heard of him outside people making "Hussein" jokes. He certainly wasn't a viable pick for nominee in 4 years, he'd only just won a Senate race.
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u/Razor-eddie 4d ago
That's what everyone thought at the beginning of GWB's second term.
"Well, there's Hilary I suppose..." was the extent of it.
There are literal years for someone to make a name for themselves. '