“Literally, enchanted”: in a park in the southern United States, an illustrious unknown renamed “Literally Anybody Else”, or “Literally anyone else” in French, is campaigning for the November presidential election.
Married and father of a three-year-old daughter, this 35-year-old Texan has entered the race for the White House to offer a third choice, while a new duel is taking shape between Democrat Joe Biden, 81 years old. , and Republican Donald Trump, 77 years old.
“There was no option to say ‘look, we don’t like either of these two candidates’,” he told AFP in a sunny Dallas park.
“The United States is full of people who are some of the best and brightest in the world, so you can’t tell me these two are the best we do,” adds the man who went by the name previously Dustin Ebey.
Since January 2024, this professor and veteran has legally changed his name “to give a voice to the common man who felt like he did not have one.”
“Currently, my generation and the one after are having difficulty finding housing. “We’re having difficulty with these basic things that, 20 or 30 years ago, weren’t really a concern,” he says, adding that despite their salaries, he and his wife, also a teacher, , cannot afford to buy a house.
“We want someone else”
In a park in this North Texas town, the potential candidate sets up a table and carefully arranges pens and a list of signatures.
“When you see ‘Literally Anyone Else,’ automatically you know I’m different. The name itself is the message,” he explains.
Some observe it with curiosity, others have fun and take photos. For his part, he tries to approach them and sometimes succeeds in convincing some of them.
“It’s a kind of voice that says “Yes! We want someone other than those two,’” says Brandon Rios, 28, offering his signature endorsement.
“That’s why I’m going to vote for this gentleman. Because I believe that at this stage, anyone could do a better job than Donald Trump or Biden,” continues this American who works in finance.
Vincent James, a 68-year-old retiree, welcomes the initiative, but considers that it will be difficult to achieve. “I know he’s trying to make his point and I’m grateful for that. But I don’t think it will be effective. If more people did it, maybe,” he says, continuing: “But I admire what he’s doing.”
Universal medical coverage
In his program, detailed on his website, the Texan says he wants to limit the public debt, tackle the housing crisis or even set up universal medical coverage and a support system for small businesses.
Since the mid-19th centurye century, only presidents from the Republican and Democratic Parties have been in power, but American states allow other candidates to be included on the ballot.
In Texas, “Literally Anyone Else” must collect more than 113,000 signatures from voters who did not participate in either party’s primaries to be added to the ballot.
If he fails to collect the necessary signatures, he has a plan B: it is possible in certain American states to write the name of a candidate on the ballot by hand on election day.