The year was 1985, and I was running for local elective office. Politics being what it is, various, nefarious factions tried to force my withdrawal from the race. Yet I remained in the fray, because I believed in what I was doing, and because my father was along for the ride. Running for Dad is a memoir of two lives hurtling towards two diverse destinies, and of a son who sought somewhere along the way to reconnect with a distant figure of authority whose approval meant more to him than he really cared to admit. I hope it resonates with any child who has attempted to please a parent, and with any well-meaning amateur who has dared to challenge the entrenched political machine.