The Can't-idates: Running For President When Nobody Knows Your Name

The antidote to Trump Fatigue starts right here with The Can't-idates. And people are noticing."No, the title doesn't refer to the current crop of presidential hopefuls...but to the 1,000-plus people we never hear about who throw their hats into the ring every election. Who are they? Fun!" People magazine, Pick of the Week"A wonderful look at the personalities on the fringe of presidential politics and the mind of Craig Tomashoff, who's drawn to them." Madeline Smithberg, co-creator of The Daily Show"Citizens have a responsibility to be part of the election process. And here's a little read to help you along with that." Michael Steele, former RNC chairperson"Add to your reading list." David Duchovny"If someone like Malcolm Gladwell or David Sedaris had written this book (and Craig, in my opinion, is just as good a writer-certainly wittier, well, as witty as David) I imagine it would have hit the bestseller lists by now...The book is great. If you love This American Life, you're bound to enjoy The Can't-idates." Liz Alexander, author, GoodReadsIn the years since the 2016 presidential election upended everything we knew or thought about the American political system, countless pundits have made careers out of explaining what happened. Voters who felt ignored for too long by career politicians like Hillary Clinton, they tell us, opted to elect political novice Donald Trump because he appeared to be "just like them." But if these experts had taken the pre-election journey that veteran journalist Tomashoff did, they would have learned the story was far more complex.The Can't-idates: Running For President When Nobody Knows Your Name is award-winning journalist Craig Tomashoff's deeply personal and profoundly inspiring chronicle of his 10,000-mile journey across the country to find a unique group of people who know better than most of us what's really happening in "forgotten America"-some of the 1,800+ FEC-approved 2016 presidential candidates. The media and politicians always dismiss these people as tin foil hat-wearing loonies who live in mom's basement. And sure, most of them will never get more votes than they can count on their fingers and toes. However, from the biker in Boise to the would-be rapper in Las Vegas to the street preacher in Cleveland, Tomashoff introduces readers to a fascinating group of "Can't-idates" (citizen candidates who keep getting told what they can't do), whose faith in the very system that excludes them is what can actually make America great again. As we approach the 2020 election in our increasingly cynical and divisive country, their belief that any of us could still grow up to be president someday isn't crazy. In fact, that hope is the only thing that can inspire weary voters to believe in politics again.