The candidates are running because they want to run in most instances. They are not being offered up by the party.
Whom we select is up to us. I'm beginning to think that we expect too much from our political parties. I heard a conservative (of which I'm one) claim that the Republican party is only concerned in winning elections--not remaining true to Christian principles.
Excuse me, but isn't that they way it ought to be? The purpose of the party is only to provide the members of the party the method with which to advance an agenda. Political parties in themselves are not inherently good or bad--only the people in them.
I happen to want godly people governing this country but I don't expect to find perfection on this earth. I'll go for the best I can get. I don't think we're looking for a successor to Jesus.