Of the checks on executive power in the constitution, perhaps the least needed is the amendment limiting presidents to two terms. Americans often invest sky-high hopes in those they send to the White House, choosing someone they believe will correct the flaws of a now-despised predecessor. After their first terms, presidents seeking re-election are frequently helped by the trappings of office. But after eight years the mood sours: Americans then long for change, and for someone younger, more competent or less mired in scandal.
The rules of presidential politics have never been applied to someone quite like Hillary Clinton. In the public eye for decades as a First Lady, senator, unsuccessful presidential candidate and then secretary of state, she is neither a serving world leader nor a fresh face. Mrs Clinton risks finding herself an unhappy hybrid: a candidate weighed down by all the disadvantages of incumbency, while enjoying rather few of the benefits.
