chaosbreather posted:

That is actually a good question op, but not because Picard is a bad captain because he's an exceptional captain. It's because, despite being an excellent negotiator and diplomat he is awful at politics. He repeatedly refuses to play the game at all, which endears him to other similarly minded captains but makes him a non-starter at SFC. Every interaction he has with an admiral is with barely contained contempt, he hates schmoozing, throws boring parties grudgingly and has little patience for the shallow and ignorant. How does he convince any committee of anything? How does he prevent himself from being used as a political puppet - on a few occasions he hasn't at all.

The thing is, Riker is better at politics than he is, and he's more driven. I suspect that the reason why they kept giving Picard ships is because he's Riker's kryptonite. After getting to the Enterprise he gave all his ambition. What must have seemed like an enormous threat: talented, charming, likable, talented, handsome and sharp; incomprehensibly sequestered himself at the other end of the quadrant. He could have taken any admiral's job, annihilated whatever factions are at play, totally altering the political landscape. They would sign anything that meant keeping that singularity of devastation away.