Why would Nixon risk the eventual consequences of watergate when by all accounts the election was heavily in his favor?
Here's a very good post on the topic from around 3 years ago, specifically by u/The_Alaskan:
Nixon won re-election in 1972 with the widest popular vote margin in American history, and consistently led in Gallup polling by wide margins in the months leading up to the election. If his re-election bid was expected to be a walk in the park, why did he break the law to undermine the Democrats?