Craig Tomashoff

Why would an average Joe or Jane run for President of the United States when they have no chance of winning? Craig Tomashoff explores that question and others in his oddly uplifting book, "The Can’t-idates: Running for President When Nobody Knows Your Name." He points out how easy it is to qualify for the highest office in the country -- The Constitution only requires that you be at least 35 and a US citizen who has lived here at least 14 years – but how hard it is to be taken seriously show more as a candidate unless you happen to be: a D or an R; Ivy-League educated; a state governor or US senator; a war hero and/or fabulously wealthy. If you are none of these things, you’re more likely to be shunned and written off as crazy. (One man Tomashoff spoke with was placed on psychiatric leave after his employer found out he was running.) More than 1,400 ordinary people filed for the Office of President in 2016. Tomashoff traveled the country to interview and spend time with 15 of them, and the result is a book that’s less about politics and more about hope and the very human need to be heard. If the people profiled in this book are a little off, many of them have a right to be. They’ve suffered through hardship, loss, divorce, domestic violence, child abuse, war and poverty. Many were living on the edge in depressed (and depressing) cities. (The “barely literate" mom living in the backwoods of Arkansas with her severely autistic son convinced me I have nothing to complain about.) Tomashoff approaches them all with empathy and an open mind. After all, he’s doing his own crazy thing, driving 10,000 miles to write a book about a collection of characters on an impossible quest. Weaving in his own views and life experiences, Tomashoff sometimes tries too hard to give these people the benefit of the doubt (and justify writing about them) -- “. . . running for president made him a happier guy. In his mind anyway, it gave his life a purpose.” – but that’s okay. I still enjoyed “meeting” these people and seeing this spirited and quirky side of Americana. show less