Texas Man Declares His Bid for the US Presidency After Changing His Name to ‘Literally Anybody Else'

A 35-year-old Texas guy took things into his own hands because he was fed up with the two-party system that would once again pit Joe Biden and Donald Trump against one another. Previously known as Dustin Elbey, he is a 7th-grade teacher and veteran of the army who changed his name to 'Literally Anybody Else' and announced his presidential candidacy last month. 

He said that the main focus of his campaign was the concept of having a third-party candidate in the first place. He told WFAA88, "Three hundred million people can do better. There really should be some outlet for people like me who are just so fed up with this constant power grab between the two parties that just has no benefit to the common person. It's not necessarily about me as a person, but it’s about literally anybody else as an idea."

Upon investigating whether a candidate may run under a false identity, he discovered that doing so would disqualify him in some states. "Else" formally changed his identity to become a candidate in January of this year after becoming weary of the political establishment's inability to provide Americans with anything more than a rerun of the 2020 election.

Else's original plan for the hoax was to use it as a purely 'commercial venture', selling goods like T-shirts with the phrase 'Literally Anybody Else for President.' However, as time passed, he discovered the concept had more strength than he had anticipated. After just a few weeks of running his campaign, Else claims he has already gathered a respectable amount of connections and signatures from volunteers eager to support him.

Donations are also being accepted on his website, www.literallyanybodyelse.com, to improve the website's construction and maybe organize a meet-and-greet in downtown Dallas or Fort Worth in the future. His website states, "Literally Anybody Else isn’t a person, it’s a rally cry. For too long have Americans been victim of its political parties putting party loyalty over governance. Together let’s send the message to Washington and say, ‘You will represent or be replaced.’ America should not be stuck choosing between the “King of Debt” (his self-declaration) and an 81-year old."

According to Texas law, a petition with 113,151 signatures from registered voters who did not cast ballots in either party's Texas presidential primary is required for an application to be placed on the ballot as an independent candidate. Moreover, recent surveys have shown that few Americans are enthusiastic about a rematch between the presumed candidates of their respective parties, Biden and Trump. In a December Associated Press-NORC Research Center survey, 56% of American adults in general said they would be 'very' or 'somewhat' unhappy with Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee, and roughly 58% expressed the same feelings regarding Trump as the prospective Republican nominee. As reported by The Hill, a January Decision Desk HQ/NewsNation survey revealed that around 59% of registered voters are either 'not too enthusiastic' about the two candidates facing off again.