Where does The Dude abide? Perhaps the Senate?
Last week, actor Jeff Bridges threw out the opening pitch at a Los Angeles Dodgers game. Now, fans are urging him to run for the Senate. While this might not sound as zany as a Klingon-speaking councilman running for higher office, more than 850 people have signed an online petition attempting to encourage Bridges to run for Montana’s open Senate seat. The support comes after the discovery that Montana’s current senator, John Walsh (D), had allegedly plagiarized a portion of his master’s thesis. Walsh withdrew from the race, leaving his party to scramble to fill the gap on their ticket before the Aug. 20 deadline.
Well-known for his roles in films from “The Big Lebowski” to the 2010 remake of the classic western “True Grit” and the soon to be released adaptation of “The Giver,” Bridges has been a longtime supporter of various Democratic politicians, both in his home state of Montana and elsewhere.
The text of the petition on Change.org urges support for Bridges, saying, “He has loved Montana and all it represents since he first set up residence in Park County four decades ago.”
Unfortunately for fans, Bridges’ wife shut the idea of a political run down.
The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported that Bridges commented on the petition on Howard Stern’s radio show Monday.
“I looked down and I see this thing ‘Jeff Bridges for Senator’ and I said, ‘What?’ … There’s a group of people that have called in and want me to run for senator of Montana, like 1,000 people, and I said, ‘Sue?’. And she looks at me and says, ‘Don’t even think about it,'” Bridges said.
The Chronicle noted that Bridges has been monetarily involved with the state’s Democratic causes before, including donations to former Democratic Sen. Max Baucus, former Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer, the Montana Democratic Party.
