Imagine this: a little-known congressional candidate is desperate for attention.  He intentionally crashes his car and fakes his own disappearance.  Then he concocts an amazing story of survival which involves him swimming a frigid river, hiking until he loses consciousness, and enduring 27 hours in a snowy New Hampshire forest.  He hopes this story will jumpstart his campaign.  It doesn’t.

Here’s the kicker: this actually happened.

An old high school friend forwarded me this article in Backpacker magazine about Congressional candidate Gary Dodds.  I can’t believe this is the first I’ve heard about this ridiculous episode.  Click here to read the unbelievable story.