The iCandidate

The iCandidate (2013) is the first novel in author Mikael Carlson’s trilogy featuring inspiring history teacher turned politician Michael Bennit. This novel tells the beginning of Michael Bennit’s story, describing what happens when a mild-mannered, morally upright educator decides to take his class up on its dare for him to run for Congress. A former Green Beret who now makes his home in Connecticut and leads a low-key life, Bennit is the quintessential “good man” in the style of Jimmy Stewart’s famous leading role in the movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The novel presents the protagonist’s quixotic project as a real-time civics lesson. It is written in first-person chapters from the point of view of four different characters—Bennit, a student working on his campaign, a reporter following the election, and a political operative working for Bennit’s opponent—who narrate their participation in the ensuing campaign in the present tense. Self-published, the novel went on to win several independent awards, including the National Indie Excellence Award for Political Thriller. Nevertheless, many readers complain about the novel’s two-dimensional characters, by-the-numbers plot, and simplistic approach to the political issues of the day.

Bennit loves being an AP American History teacher and takes his responsibility to his students very seriously. At the beginning of the school year, Bennit makes a bet with his students: if they all get A’s in his class, he will run for Congress at their urging. Responding to his excellent teaching style that seems to reach every student in the exact right way, regardless of their learning styles or ability levels, all of the kids manage to get A’s. Bennit agrees to run in his district, but only if some of the best students take on roles in his campaign. We never really know much about these students apart from a few hastily sketched stereotypes: the jock, the misfit, and other general teenagers.

The race will be a tough one: although Bennit almost immediately qualifies to run as an independent, his opponent is nine-term Democratic incumbent Winston Beaumont. Extremely popular, Beaumont is seen as a shoo-in considering the Republican candidate is a no-name joke—basically, the GOP doesn’t spend money on this race because it assumes Beaumont is unbeatable. Bennit also has no money to spend on his campaign, which means he can’t really travel to make appearances around the state, can’t take time off work to speak to people face to face, and can’t pay professional strategists or political advisers. As a result, Bennit decides to capitalize on his students’ familiarity with social media to become the first-ever completely online candidate for office.



Instead of running on issues or proposing policy solutions to problems, Bennit decides to run a purely populist campaign focused only on morality, values, and character. He takes this tack because Beaumont is a corrupt and self-dealing politician mostly focused on rewarding political allies and filling his own war chest. It’s not made completely clear why a politician so intent on making the lives of his constituents worse retains such broad appeal.

Bennit’s refusal to discuss his stance on any of the issues he will surely have to tackle if elected is seen as a bold and insightful move. This, combined with his virtual-only campaign, gets the attention of a freelance political reporter who used to work for The New York Times. Following the campaign, she writes favorable stories about the candidate, which then get picked up by other outlets, generating tons of free publicity for Bennit through the national media. In fact, what seems to propel Bennit’s campaign are these news stories and TV coverage. Though the novel’s title suggests an exploration of online campaigning, none of Bennit’s social media work is ever described—readers wonder why we never see any of his tweets or Facebook posts, for example.

In reaction to Bennit’s insurgent campaign, Beaumont and his staff grow desperate. In a bid to hold on to power at any cost, Beaumont frees his most underhanded and devious operative to unleash a barrage of the dirtiest tricks he can muster. To add insult to injury, Bennit’s mean-spirited school principal also has it out for the excellent young teacher. Unhappy with the idea that Bennit’s students are working on his campaign and are thus somehow no longer part of the “system,” the principal tries to get him fired. Still, despite these evil attempts to either ensnare Bennit in some kind of moral quandary or simply destroy his livelihood, Bennit never wavers from his beliefs or moral code. He also has a very apt quip to unleash every time he encounters one of these villains.



Beaumont’s evil machinations succeed enough to make the race extremely close as election day nears. Nevertheless, in a last-minute twist, Bennit does indeed win the majority of the vote in his district. The second novel in the trilogy follows Bennit’s first year in Congress.