Matt Damon for president? Photo credit: Thore Siebrands, http://flic.kr/p/HSRrn
Matt Damon will run for president – or at least, he will if filmmaker Michael Moore has anything to do with it. The Fahrenheit 9/11 director told Jane Hamsher of blog Firedoglake that Damon would be a great presidential candidate, thanks in part to the actor “not caring about who he offends by saying the things that need to be said here”. Damon, star of the Bourne trilogy, would be in good company should he decide to make a bid: plenty of Hollywood actors have forged political careers, from Ronald Reagan to Arnold Schwarzenegger.
- The Damon supremacy. According to Paul Harris in The Guardian, Matt Damon is a decent choice for presidential candidate thanks to his advocacy work: ”Damon, like Sean Penn with Haiti and George Clooney with Darfur, is one of the few big names who can genuinely say they are activists, not just celebrity brands attached to a good cause.” Harris remarked that Damon has spoken out on a number of issues, from the Iraq war to the debt-ceiling deal. What’s more, the Good Will Hunting star is no Hollywood himbo: “Damon is highly educated. Though he eventually dropped out to pursue an acting career, he went to Harvard,” wrote Harris. Damon can also sing.
- Bet on Baldwin. But Damon’s Harvard education may not be enough to see off a potentially serious threat to his presidential campaign: Alec Baldwin. The 30 Rock actor declared his intention to run for president to Access Hollywood back in May: “‘We want to announce right now, we are running for President and Vice President of the United States,’ Alec said with his arm around co-star Tracy Morgan.” However, The New York Times suggested Baldwin is more interested in becoming mayor of New York. Damon can breathe a sigh of relief – for now.
- I’ll be back. Sadly, it seems there is no truth to the rumours that action man Arnold Schwarzenegger will be running for president. Arnie served as governor of California for eight years, apparently donating his salary to charity. His time in office will always be remembered for providing headline writers (and Periscope writers) around the world with endless material thanks to his Hollywood catchphrases. That, and the $20 billion budget deficit. The Predator star stepped down this year, and later admitted he had fathered a love child while in office. Less than impressed, wife Maria Shriver filed for divorce.
- Too many chicks. Fans of vintage ER and so-so romcoms will be saddened to hear that George Clooney will not be making a run at the presidency. “I didn’t live my life in the right way for politics, you know,” Clooney told Newsweek. “I f–ked too many chicks and did too many drugs, and that’s the truth.”
- Enter Brad Pitt? The Global Times reported in 2010 that the Mr & Mrs Smith star was contemplating a presidential bid; mainly, it seems, due to boredom: “‘There’s not much left for him to do in Hollywood,’” a source close to Pitt says.” However, no further reports have surfaced. It seems, therefore, that Damon will strolling to the White House entirely unopposed – apart from the real politicians, of course; but they don’t really count. After all, when was the last time Barack Obama fought off a host of gun-toting bad guys with his bare hands? Can Mitt Romney ride a motorbike down a flight of stairs?
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