The point I meant is that if he wins, it'll be his second term. He won't run for a third, so no one runs against him. Unless he decides to run for Governor or Congress, I guess. But I think he'd rather just become a power broker.
Term limits don't mean anything to these people. The constitution does not mean anything to them. No one will run against him, because whomever replaces him will be a handpicked autocrat whose sole purpose will be to ensure there is never a threat to their rule.
You're running on the assumption that they'll abide by the rules: they won't. They already consider themselves above the law (despite the incredibly slow evidence to the contrary.), and have already come within a hairs breadth of having the unquestioned power they want. Now they're scared, desperate animals because not only is there functionally no path back to that power, but the consequences on their actions is facing them down. If they get the power back to ensure they don't have to compromise on anything: they will never give it up willingly.
We got to watch brutus stab caesar, but the guard actually stopped him before brutus got to 18. This was the very real "Fall of the republic, rise of the empire" moment, and it honestly seems like we're not taking the seriousness of the moment to heart.
