One of the problems with American politics is that it is so disruptive, mean, vicious and petty that most qualified people stay out of it. Personally, I have doubts about anyone who wants to be President. It requires a certain level of narcissism to want to be President. And, it seems to me that a middle class person would be unable to compete unless he is corrupt. It is curious that relatively poor people work in politics for peanuts all of their life, and retire rich like LBJ, Clinton, and to a lesser degree, Nixon. (When I was young Truman left office after a lifetime in politics, and was not rich.) Here is an article that discusses this.

http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2008/10/27/obama-mccain-politics-oped-cx_ghr_1027reynolds.html