[Bandido]

It's just how the Erins make things. Because Squirrelflight is the main character now, all main characters must have high ranks and well respected positions. Like Firestar, he was pretty stupid but heroic and so was rewarded with leadership. I've actually made a thread exactly like this one, but is archived now. Brackenfur is a side character, and is automatically disqualified for deputy by the Erins. It's pretty annoying and you can always predict who's the next leader of ThunderClan just by looking at the main character.