The last mayor of Philadelphia clearly hated his job and spent much of the time auditioning for a position in the Obama administration which he never got. Bill de Blasio clearly hates his job.
I don't think being mayor of a large city is a job for everyone. I'd hate being mayor! Also I wouldn't run for mayor. But what I don't get is trying to be the mayor of, say, New York City, and then thinking, ugh, this sucks, what I really want to do is... run for president! Or even go be Deputy Secretary of Whateverthehell. Go cash out for real! Go get some nice low-show jobs and corporate board positions or whatever. My point is that maybe these government jobs with big responsibilities and less then stellar renumeration...aren't actually for you?
I don't get it.