“Politicians are rarely normal people,” said Chris Chocola, the director of the conservative Club for Growth (and a former congressman himself) who is involved in recruiting conservative candidates to challenge incumbent Republicans. “I don’t try to talk them out of running, but I ask this question: So you think you can go fix Washington when there’s thousands of people who haven’t been able to? What makes you think you’re different?”

It may always have been the case that only someone with one or two screws loose would subject themselves to running, and then potentially serving, in Congress. But for many, the upside of running is now harder to decipher than ever.

When Griffin was first approached about it, his first reaction was to try to come up with a reason to say no. In his previous jobs, he saw firsthand the compelling reasons why other qualified people had declined the opportunity.

“As Washington has grown ever more useless, the crop of candidates motivated by public service has really dwindled,” Griffin said. “And as serious people exit, intellectually empty attention-seekers are rushing in to take their place. And the people that are working hard in their communities — that are community leaders who want to make a difference — are often put off by that.”