Ben Affleck for Senate? Actor Could Be Formidable Massachusetts Candidate

[DonViejo]

by Lloyd Grove Dec 21, 2012 4:45 AM EST

The actor/director/activist didn’t say no when asked about a potential political future. Why Democratic heavyweights say he might be a serious candidate for John Kerry’s seat.

Phenomena far more astonishing, let alone preposterous, have occurred in American politics. There was, for instance, that Austrian body builder who mutated into a box-office titan and, despite a comically thick accent, leveraged his celebrity into two terms as governor of the nation’s most populous state.

So why not Cambridge, Mass., resident Ben Affleck as a successor to John Kerry in the United States Senate?

The 40-year-old director and movie star—who has carved out a reputation over the past decade as a well-informed liberal activist—certainly didn’t shut the door this week when CBS News Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer grilled him on a prospective Affleck candidacy.

“One never knows. I’m not one to get into conjecture,” Affleck said when Schieffer, in a segment taped in Washington on Wednesday for the Sunday morning broadcast, asked if he’d consider running if the Bay State’s senior senator were to be nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.

“I do have a great fondness and admiration for the political process in this country,” continued Affleck, who played a corrupt congressman in the 2009 thriller State of Play. “It’s a big deal for me to come down here and be on your show that I’ve watched so much, but I’m not going to get into speculation about my political future.”

-snip-

more:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/21/ben-affleck-for-senate-actor-could-be-formidable-massachusetts-candidate.html

[TwilightGardener]

1. I would enjoy that. I would like that a lot. I would watch CSPAN.

[MADem]

2. We need someone who can beat that asshole Brown.

It bugs me that the ONLY SOB in the world they could "seem" to find is John Kerry for STATE. He's been the MA Delegation leader so briefly--it's infuriating. I don't quite get why he wants to leave--he could do another 18 years in the Senate easily. He's "done" at State in four, and he'll have aged ten years in the process.

And we just had Daniel Inouye pass...our "comfortable" majority is getting less comfortable. We're going the wrong damn way in the Senate.

I'll take any winner with a D after his or her name, even an actor--anyone who can GOTV. MA Dems get LAZY in the off-years--and they don't always turn out as they should.

[Bluenorthwest]

5. Send that 'even an actor' thing to Senator Franken, see what he says....

Like Ben, Al is a performer who wrote to promote his performance life, then started producing and directing and branching into public service. I think Al has done a great job. I sure don't see all those lawyers on the Hill doing much better than 'even an actor'. Do you?

[MADem]

6. Al was an actor in his role as a comedian....and SNL was VERY political back in the day.

He was like a Jon Stewart, but with better acting chops! AND his state was ready for him after the excesses of Norm "Toothy" Coleman.

I come from MA--do you realize that Elizabeth Warren is the FIRST female Senator from MA....EVER? You'd think the Commonwealth would have been a bit more forward-looking, but no. We've yet to have a female governor elected in her own right (we did have a LTGOV who fleeted up--she was awful, too...and a Republican).

The Bay State is slow, stodgy and staid in some regards, and forward looking and progressive in others. We're a dichotomy.

We're also, as I said, LAZY in the off-years. It's hard as hell to GOTV for special and local elections.

[Bluenorthwest]

3. I'd vote for Affleck.

Easily. Not sure this is the right time, I'm not from MA but he's a person I'd support for any office.

[jayschool]

4. Matt Damon?

Seems he'd also be a good actor-turned-senator from Massachusetts.

[sarcasmo]

7. We need to run a big name to keep that seat

[DonViejo]

8. Why not Nicki Tsongas, wife of the late Senator Paul Tsongas?...

She has the name recognition and her husband was thought very highly of.

[Little Star]

9. I'm in for Ben! Hope he runs and also hope Ashley Judd runs in KY...

If the repubs could elect Ronald Reagan as president they should close their mouths about Hollywood politicians!

[Festivito]

10. That would be one hell of a pay cut. Really good man there. /nt