Ben Affleck was in Washington D.C. today to testify before the House Armed Services Committee about security in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The issue is close to Affleck, who founded the Eastern Congo Initiative, a charity organization benefiting the African nation. Salon assists in spreading a rumor said to be spreading:
Rumors are spreading around Capitol Hill and elsewhere that actor-director Ben Affleck might be considering a Senate run for Massachusetts. Politico notes that Affleck, who was in D.C. today to speak for more U.S. involvement in Eastern Congo, was also scheduled to meet with other lawmakers, including Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.),”who is widely believed to be replacing Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.”
Affleck, however, would not confirm or deny the rumor. “That’s not what I’m here to talk about,” he told Politico. “I’m here to talk about what role we can place in making the Eastern Congo a better place.”But Boston reporter Jon Keller argues that if Kerry’s seat does, in fact, open up, Affleck could have a fair chance.
Affleck has been active in the Democratic Party for more than a decade, and campaigned for Sen.-elect Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who beat Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) in Nov. Any U.S. citizen over 30 years of age who can obtain 10,000 certified signatures can enter this race, Keller noted.
As much as I don’t like the people of leveraging their fame to achieve high office, I have to say I trust them a little more to be true to what they believe since they are going into a lower profile position. Affleck would be one of only 100 Senators and it would take him years before he had any real power. And if he wanted to get anything done, he would have to keep his nose to the grindstone and stay away from the cameras. Look at Al Franken. He never does interviews now unless they are for local television, and when he does those he doesn’t play for laughs or entertainment. He would lose respect from the other Senators if he played that card. He would not be seen as serious.
So yeah, Ben Affleck might use his fame to get to office, but once he got there, his fame would be meaningless.
As a raging liberal from Massachusetts, I say that Derek Jeter has a better chance at becoming senator.
And if Ashley Judd runs in Kentucky, we might have 3 successful actors in the Senate.
And steve, don’t forget Sonny Bono and Fred Thompson, although those two are bit players.
“He should stick to acting/directing.”
Funny how these types of comments are always directed at Democrats, like Beatty, Affleck, etc., but never Republicans like Ahhhnold, Clint and Reagan. Even funnier that those guys got elected.
Affleck 2016? It’s happening! That crappy actor made it!
I can totally see it. More absurd things have happened…
(I like anyone whose hard work and talent have caused me to do a 180 change-of-opinion. Go be ambitious Mr. Affleck!)
Don’t make me laugh. He should stick to acting/directing.
He did drop out of Focus, although that could be because the project is looking less appealing. Either way, he’d have my vote.
I can’t see this happening. If he’s interested, all power to him, but I think he has far too many projects in mind as a director to make a career in politics viable. He’s said outright that he wants to make a Whitey Bulger biopic with Matt Damon (and that it’ll likely be “after his next movie”), as well as a multiple-film adaptation of “The Stand”.
I can’t really see him giving all that up for a Senatorial seat. But if he does, I would support his decision for the same reason, because giving up so much would really mean it was something important to him.
I didn’t know the Congo had a Senate seat. That’s all he ever tweets about. In fact I’ve not read a single tweet about Massachusetts. Unless it was about the Red Sox. Hmm… maybe I just missed them all.