Matthew McConaughey says he will not run for Texas governor

[left-of-center2012]

Source: The Guardian

Mon 29 Nov 2021 07.23 EST
The actor Matthew McConaughey will not run for Texas governor, removing one potential obstacle from the path of Beto O’Rourke, the former Democratic congressman and candidate for Senate and president now seeking to defeat the Republican Greg Abbott.

He made the announcement that he would not in a short video posted to social media on Sunday night, two weeks before the deadline to declare.

Instead, McConaughey said, he would look to support “businesses and foundations that I believe are leaders, establishments that I believe are creating pathways for people to succeed in life, organizations that have a mission to serve and build trust and dream”.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/29/matthew-mcconaughey-texas-governor-will-not-run

[global1]

1. Alright, Alright, Alright.... nt

[Calista241]

5. so glad this is the first post.

[dchill]

2. He's smarter than I thought.

[PubliusEnigma]

4. Too many naked bongo fests in his closet.

[left-of-center2012]

6. Clear sailing now for Beto !

Goodbye Abbott !

[Elessar Zappa]

8. Beto is going to have a tough time beating Abbot.

His gun grabbing comments will likely doom him, imo.

[RussBLib]

9. Beto is proposing a "buyback"

... not a "taking" of assault weapons. Handguns, long rifles not involved. That's a point that many people miss.

[RevBrotherThomas]

10. It doesn't matter what the ACTUAL proposal is...

...Abbott will play the "taking away your 2nd Amendment" line to the hilt.

[musclecar6]

11. Unfortunately

I agree that the right wing nuts equate anything mentioned about their weapons being restricted in any way, they go hysterical. All rational thought ceases. What a bunch of dumb fucks.

[Polybius]

40. It's not only "right-wing nuts"

A lot of Texas Democrats hate his "Hell yeah we're gonna take your AR15, AK47" comments.

[SmittyWerben]

15. Beto said:

"Hell, yes, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47." He said "take," whatever he intended after that is lost in the noise of "confiscation." He cannot win state wide in Texas.

[maxsolomon]

45. "Will your buy-back program accept Assault Rifles?"

"Hell, yes, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47. We'll take anything."

How I wish that exchange had gone...

[Polybius]

39. And if they don't want to sell them?

Then he's proposing taking them away.

[RussBLib]

41. to be fair

Beto did propose a MANDATORY buyback of assault weapons, which is unworkable. A voluntary buyback would reduce the number of weapons, but only slightly. Without public buy-in, a mandatory buyback could get ugly. And I have no doubt that many of the assault weapons on the street were not purchased legally and tracking them down would be next to impossible.

Beto has time to amend his position, and he should

[Polybius]

42. I had a good proposal last year

If you are going to do a voluntary buyback, offer three times the price for the gun. So if it retailed for $600, buy it back for $1,800. I think that would get many to sell. But I don't support any of this while running a campaign in Texas.

[EX500rider]

44. I just don't see the point

There are 17 people killed by handguns for everyone shot by a rifle, all rifles not just AR/AK's
And I don't think it would help much with mass shootings either, pistols will work just as well:
The Virginia Tech shooting was a spree shooting that occurred on April 16, 2007, comprising two attacks on the campus of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. Seung-Hui Cho, an undergraduate student at the university and a U.S. resident of South Korean descent, killed 32 people and wounded 17 others with two semi-automatic pistols.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech_shooting

[EX500rider]

43. Handguns are by far the most common murder weapon used in the United States

...accounting for 8,029 homicides in 2020.

Knives: 1739
Hands/fists/feet:662
All rifles of which AR's & AK's are a subset: 455



https://www.statista.com/statistics/195325/murder-victims-in-the-us-by-weapon-used/

[Lonestarblue]

14. I agree. I recently contacted his campaign to share that sentiment.

Other than an acknowledgment of the email, I’ve heard nothing back about my comments. Anyone who agrees that his gun stance is a losing proposition might also send an email. Perhaps t would have an impact if many people share their response. The email I used is [e-mail].

I’m sure others will disagree, but the war over guns has already been lost. Even a buy-back program would most likely reduce the number of guns by a very small amount, especially in Texas. To me, it’s a third-rail topic that is an unnecessary impediment to a successful campaign. There are so many more issues that are important to Texas voters, like healthcare (especially reproductive rights and one of the highest maternal death rates in the nation), refusal to expand Medicaid. the energy grid, unaffordable housing in cities like Austin, unequal K-12 education, child care costs, 20% of the state’s children living in poverty, the conditions in border towns being overrun with migrants, voting rights and fair elections.

[JohnSJ]

20. Yup. I think the gun issue is a huge deal with too many in Texas, and regardless of the

nuances Beto may make, including buy backs, etc. I don't think it will fly.

[TheRickles]

7. Would Matthew endorse Beto? Not sure where he stands on such things as, you know, issues.

[TxGuitar]

13. He is a self-described "aggressive centrist"

He has not defined any stands on any issues.
Good that he is out.

[LeftInTX]

37. He also does not vote!

[relayerbob]

12. I also want to make an announcement

I will not be running for office in the 2022 elections.

Just so we’re all clear.

[Paladin]

16. Another wildly embarrassing Republican, out of the race?

Suits me fine.

[left-of-center2012]

17. He never declared for a party.

He talked of running an independent campaign.

[Paladin]

21. He's been trending Republican, ever since he started talking politics.

His choice of phrases is over-the-top Hollywood touchy-feely, but there's never been any real doubt that he'd end up as yet another Texas Republican hack---of which we already have way too many.

[left-of-center2012]

23. OK. That's your opinion

[left-of-center2012]

25. See #22 below

[yellowdogintexas]

36. I am so relieved he is not doing this. That would be a death knell for

Beto for sure. His popularity would split the vote and throw the race into a runoff.

Runoffs are bad because no one remembers to vote in them. This is how we got Ted Cruz in the first place - a no show runoff in the Republican primary

Matthew needs to support Beto's platform regarding all the things he likes and stay away from everything else.

I am all for his philanthropy and good works.

[JohnSJ]

22. He never identified as a republican, and personally I think he would have had the best

chance to someone who could defeat Abbott.

The gun issue I don't will fare well with Texans. Hope I am wrong

[Paladin]

24. Always glad to hear opinions from California. (nt)

[JohnSJ]

26. Too bad most in Texas aren't like Austin. While it is way too early, the early polls are not

good for Beto against Abbott

[Paladin]

27. Austin is way-the-hell overrated.

And that's from a guy who grew up there. Fifty years ago, Austin was cool. It's been going downhill, ever since. I still have lots of old friends there---they whine about the traffic jams, they moan about their tax rates, they kvetch about the snotty out-of-state neighbors, they gripe about UT football being in the toilet, they go into convulsions over housing prices...and they'll never leave the place.

Beto toasted himself with the gun remarks. Damn shame, because a shithead like Abbott could have been taken down with the big city vote.

[BradAllison]

28. Ok, so the entire state of Texas is as red and dumb as they say?

Alright alright alright.....I guess.

[Paladin]

33. Rejoice in your hatred of Texas.

You'll always have plenty of uninformed company, here at DU.

[BradAllison]

35. .....

https://www.cnn.com/election/2020/results/state/texas

[JohnSJ]

31. Sorry to hear that. When I was last there it was like an oasis in the desert, now it

sounds like urban sprawl based on your assessment

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

32. Born in Austin ...

And returned to live there in the '80's and '90's. I loved the town back then.

Occasionally make it back for visits. Not sure I would want to go back there to live unless I won the lottery or had some other similar financial windfall. It is just too expensive, especially to live in the parts that still feel like I remember Austin feeling (Clarksville, Hyde Park, etc.).

It was, and I imagine still is, very different than much of the rest of the state in terms of politics.

[Paladin]

34. Austin is no longer the lone liberal outpost in Texas.

Most of the big cities---Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, El Paso and others---have shown strong Democratic voting surges in recent elections.

[yellowdogintexas]

38. Fort Worth went for Hilary, Beto and Biden. So do not give up on this election!

Hilary did not carry the county (she did carry Fort Worth) but the others did.

Our local party has been working hard on this; it doesn't hurt that we now have attractive candidates in every slot on the ballot. We went for years with candidates in the legislative and executive positions, but not judicial. There were times when there were not enough Democrats on the ballot to have a primary in many of our 254 counties.

In 2020 we had primaries in every county for the first time in a very long time.

Getting folks to the polls in November is the answer. I have been told by several active Democrats that if our vote had lived up to its potential here in Tarrant County Beto would be our Senator. Think about that: turnout in ONE county could have flipped it.

Throw in the other big counties and there you have it.

Beto can still rally up a crowd and raise funds. He is kicking off his Tarrant County campaign Dec 3; the size of that crowd is going to be a key indicator. If he draws a huge number despite Omicron that is going to have an impact. He has been out in the middle sized cities all week.

He and his teams were on top of it during the Freeze; knocking on doors &making phone calls to check on folks in areas without power and getting them to a warm place. He had 250,000 volunteers helping out. Meanwhile, Abbott was hemming and hawing and Cruz expatriated himself

[highplainsdem]

18. Good.

[heckles65]

19. I thought it was a bit of pipe dream anyway.

[PSPS]

29. Who needs yet another "actor" devoid of any experience in governing running for governor?

[maxsolomon]

46. I'd prefer it to Abbott.

Most TX Librulz would.

[left-of-center2012]

30. Let's see how this will affect Betos polls

Curious to see if he can recover from his gun statements.

[TexasBushwhacker]

47. LOL - He was never going to run! He has a contract with HBO

He's signed up to do a mini-series with HBO for "A Time For Mercy", the sequel to "A Time to Kill" that made him a star. Short of getting HBO to put off filming for 4 years or more, which wouldn't happen, there is no way he ever would have run. Why he did this song and dance about possibly running, I don't know. Actors like publicity, especially when it's free.

https://www.indiewire.com/2021/03/matthew-mcconaughey-hbo-time-to-kill-sequel-time-for-mercy-1234624636/