Like most Americans, Dustin Ebey is unhappy with the prospect of an election rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Unlike most of us, though, he decided to do something about it.
The 35-year-old Texan went viral this week after legally changing his name to Literally Anybody Else and declaring his candidacy for the White House. The goal, he said Reason Thursday, “to give a united voice to the idea that we deserve better.”
“[Biden and Trump] they have their platforms, they have their positions. And if you don’t fit in with them, you have to decide,” says Else. “With some people they’re perfectly aligned, but they’re definitely not the majority.”
Indeed, a Gallup poll released this week found that about a third of Americans believe that neither Trump nor Biden would be a good president if elected to another term. Other polls show that both men have low approval ratings and that a majority of voters would like both men to refuse to run again. At 77 and 81 years old, respectively, Trump and Biden are the oldest pair of presidential candidates in history, breaking the record set four years ago.
Could it be that Americans are literally looking for someone else?
In the interview, Else described himself as a generally apolitical centrist, increasingly distressed by the plight of the country’s major parties. He says he voted for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson in 2016 after being unable to stomach the choice between Trump and Hillary Clinton, then pulled the lever for Trump in 2020, a decision he regretted after the riot of January 6th. A seventh-grade math teacher and Army veteran, Else says the national debt is the biggest problem facing the country.
“If we can’t get our debt under control, there’s almost nothing that will save us,” he says.
Else has filed the necessary documentation with the Federal Election Commission, which at first did not believe he was serious, and is starting the arduous task of collecting the thousands of signatures he will need to participate in the Texas elections as an independent candidate. .
Else has been shocked by the outpouring of support he has received via social media and says he has received dozens of calls and emails from potential volunteers and people interested in working on his campaign. A more professional website for the campaign is currently under construction, she says, and specific policy proposals will be presented in the coming months.
His effort is the best: it would take “an act of God” to put him in the White House, he admits.
However, there is no denying that his decision to engage at this stage reflects a brutal truth about the state of the 2024 election. And there is no doubt that Else’s candidacy offers something that neither Trump nor Biden can: he is not literally them.
Reason He caught up with Literally Anybody Else on Thursday night to ask him about the origins of this crazy idea, his political ideology and how he feels about already being labeled a spoiler for the two major parties.
Reason: I have to ask the obvious question first. Why are you doing this?
Literally anyone else: Have you seen who’s running for president lately?
Reason: I have. Valid point.
Literally someone else: There’s a huge, huge flaw if you think about it [it].
When I look at Donald Trump, even excluding all his political gaffes, Trump represents 0.1% of the wealth just by virtue of being a billionaire. It’s not something many of us can connect with. As for Biden, he’s been a politician for 60 years, and I simply doubt his ability to sympathize with what’s happening here at the base. I want something better. I want something closer to me, closer to the people around me.
Reason: How did this idea come about and was drunkenness involved?
Literally someone else: I actually don’t react well to alcohol. I actually don’t drink it that much. I had a glass of wine today and I can hardly drink half of it.
If there had been literally anyone else on the 2020 ballot, I would have chosen him. With this feeling in mind, I thought, “Hey, I bet I could make money with this concept.” So I purchased the domain LiterallyAnybodyElse.com with the intention of using the gimmick to sell t-shirts. It was a business decision. As we began to face the year, getting closer and closer to election season, I kept hearing more and more rhetoric, more and more divisiveness in the news. I began to wonder if it would be possible to put literally anyone else on the ballot.
But I quickly realized that many states did not allow pseudonyms on the ballot. So, I’ve come to the conclusion that in order for this to happen, someone would have to legally change their name to Literally Anybody Else, which is just stupid. Who would go that far when it’s really that serious? As time went on, it got really serious.
Reason: Any unexpected complications?
Literally someone else: I filed the paperwork online, paid my $330-something, and within a couple of days I went to the judge and told her what I wanted to change my name to. She looked at me. He was like, “Are you going to be that guy?” I didn’t even know if it would be successful. And she allowed it. She said, “Yes, protesting is part of your First Amendment right.”
And I thought, OK, this is happening.
Reason: Your friends and family are “literally” calling you now?
Literally someone else: No, the name has a pragmatic function. Look at it this way: you and I are talking. We wouldn’t be talking if you ran like Dustin.
Reason: That’s a good point. What is the proposal of the Literally Anybody Else campaign aimed at the American people?
Literally someone else: The first phase right now is about unity. I am the candidate who sets out to unify America in a way that the other two candidates simply no longer can.
They spend so much time demonizing the other party that any perception of empathy feels like a betrayal. If I become president of the United States, I will have to represent the people of the United States, not just those who are aligned with me, not just those who fit the cookie cutter like me. They have their platforms, they have their positions. If you don’t fit in with them, you have to decide. With some people they are perfectly aligned, but they are definitely not the majority.
Reason: How would you describe your political ideology?
Literally someone else: I can’t right now. It will be released in June or July. I don’t want to focus on the platform without doing proper development. I’m a political outsider.
Reason: Who did you vote for in the last elections?
Literally someone else: When it came to Trump vs. Hillary, I couldn’t really take either of them seriously. In the end I voted for a third party, for Gary Johnson. He was a strange candidate, but, again, he was more of a “I don’t like Trump or Hillary” vote.
In 2020, I was very, very busy and didn’t have the luxury of vetting candidates. My family aligned with Trump, so I ended up voting for him and regretted it shortly after when it happened on January 6th.
To this day I still don’t understand how we got to where we are. It does not make sense. Like, no one wanted this in 2020. How did we end up with this again in 2024? Can someone explain to me how the system allowed this to happen?
Reason: What is the most important problem facing the country right now?
Literally someone else: The most important problem facing the country is debt, bar none. Many things come from this. If we can’t get our debt under control, there is almost nothing that can save us.
I would not allow any spending that does not have a balanced budget. We added $7 trillion to the national debt under Trump, $2 trillion under Joe Biden. My three year old daughter will have to help pay it off somehow. If we don’t manage it now, what will happen in 20, 30 years if we reach a point where our interest on the national debt is beyond what we can pay? What happens to America’s credibility? What happens to our ability to take care of ourselves if people can’t trust our word?
Reason: What does success look like?
Literally someone else: Giving a unified voice to the idea that we deserve better and making that actually have an effect on the way we do politics. You know, I think if we could move the needle from the polarized ends to the center, to sanity, we would narrow the Overton window so that those who are more extreme have less say, and then those who are more aligned with the majority of the country can have a way to represent us. That’s all I want.
Literally Anybody Else represents an idea. We just want representation. Someone has to step up to provide it. Since no one came forward, that’s why I decided to get involved.
Reason: Last thing. Third-party and independent candidates are often singled out as alleged “spoilers” for the two major parties. Are you worried about ruining the election for Biden or Trump?
Literally someone else: Not exactly.
But it was interesting to watch social media because they called me a Trump plant. I have been called a Biden plant. I’ve been called a liberal hacker. I have been called a conservative. But I intentionally stay in the middle, and it’s not that hard because I’m a centrist. I average it to the center. You’ll start to see more of that in June, July, when I start publishing the policies.
It’s honestly been funny to see where people try to put me in these boxes because they’re everywhere. But right now it’s all about unity. It’s about bringing people together. Build the chorus, let’s say, before you start singing the message.
This interview has been condensed and edited for style and clarity.