This is my “presidential debate” face.
It’s always so hilarious and adorable when actors confuse the adulation they receive for the kind of personal consequence they equate with political power. Remember when Ben Affleck wanted to run for office? Hysterical! Now we have Alec Baldwin, sizing up his own chances and in classic pol fashion, ruling nothing out (from Playboy via Politicalwire):
Playboy: Will you run for office?
Baldwin: I’ll put it this way. The desire is there; that’s one component. The other component is opportunity. A law firm in a liberal Democratic bastion in Ohio state politics sent me a binder with a cover letter that read, “Mr. Baldwin, here’s who we represent, the kinds of cases we handle, our credentials in Ohio state politics. We want you to move to Ohio and run for governor. We will launch your career.”
Playboy: Could you live in Ohio?
Baldwin: I have sometimes thought I could move to New Jersey or Connecticut and run. I’d love to run against Joe Lieberman. I have no use for him. But it’s all fantasy. I’m a carry-me-out-in-a-box New Yorker. Here, anything can happen. Who thought Eliot Spitzer would go down the way he did? Senator Hillary Clinton left to serve as secretary of state. Two of the biggest forces gone. Maybe Andrew Cuomo will run for one of their old seats. How much longer will Chuck Schumer stay as senator? After 2013 Bloomberg will be gone. What happens then?
Do I run for Congress on Long Island? What’s Tim Bishop going to do? He represents my district. People get sick, die. They’re offered lucrative deals and want to cash in and make money for their retirement. People misstep. Unfortunately, an opportunity for me may mean bad things for someone else. I don’t wish that.
“Could you live in Ohio?” What?! Baldwin last year talked to CBS News’ “60 Minutes” about his interest in animal rights, the environment and the arts. Baldwin told Morley Safer that the whole thing about him promising to leave the country if former President Bush won the election was all a big misunderstanding. What he said was that it might be a good time to leave the country. Parsing! He’s off to a strong start.
