Marc Allan Feldman knew he was going to run for president of the United States. There was only one problem: He didn't know how to tell his wife, Anne.
"After I announced my candidacy on Facebook, she heard about it from her friends," says Feldman, a general anesthesiologist at the Cleveland Clinic who has run for public office in the past. "She texted me asking if we were going to have a campaign party bus."
The 55-year-old chats about his bare-bones budget and why he's seeking the Libertarian nomination.
Q. When you ran for Ohio attorney general in 2010, you received less than 3 percent of the vote. Who are your constituents and how will you reach them?
A. In 2012, an estimated 107 million people didn't vote. Those are my people. I want to give them someone to vote for. Information travels so much faster now. With social media, if you can reach one person, you can reach 100 million people. I'm basing my campaign on my website, votesnotforsale.com, and limiting donations to $5 per person. When you have a message that resonates with people, they will share it with others.
Q. Why are you a Libertarian?
A. The power is in our hands. I want freedom and a government that doesn't require permits and licenses for things that should be none of the government's business. The government doesn't give us rights. We already have rights, and the government should respect them. I'm a Libertarian with a capital "L." I will not run as an independent.
Q. Your son, Alec, died two years ago at 16. How did that influence your decision to run?
A. Alec taught me that I really needed to deal with fear. He wrote poetry and understood death was a part of life. Living life without fear is a lot of the reason why I'm running.
Q. Do you truly believe you can win?
A. There are many in both the Republican and Democratic parties who want someone like me to win. They may not fight me as much as people might think. If I have success with this, it will dramatically increase the quantity and quality of people running for office.
