Alec Baldwin, Still Mulling a Run for Office

Acclaimed actor Alec Baldwin is no stranger to politics. The star of "30 Rock" and numerous Hollywood films has often voiced his support of Democratic candidates over the years. Back in 2000, for instance, he agreed with director Robert Altman that if George Bush defeated Al Gore, it would be a good time to move to France.

Though he didn't make that move, Baldwin remained a political junkie during the Bush years, and often flirted with the idea of running for office. Now, in the wake of "Saturday Night Live" actor Al Franken's stunning victory in Minnesota, that urge may have gotten a little stronger. Interviewed in Playboy magazine, the following exchange ensued:

PLAYBOY: Will you run for office?

BALDWIN: I'll put it this way. The desire is there; that's one component. The other component is opportunity. A law firm in a liberal Democratic bastion in Ohio state politics sent me a binder with a cover letter that read, "Mr. Baldwin, here's who we represent, the kinds of cases we handle, our credentials in Ohio state politics. We want you to move to Ohio and run for governor. We will launch your career."

PLAYBOY: Could you live in Ohio?

BALDWIN: I have sometimes thought I could move to New Jersey or Connecticut and run. I'd love to run against Joe Lieberman. I have no use for him. But it's all fantasy. I'm a carry-me-out-in-a-box New Yorker. Here, anything can happen.

Whether the man who once described Dick Cheney as a "terrorist" and a "lying, thieving Oil Whore; or a murderer of the U.S. Constitution" has a shot at joining Franken in Congress remains to be seen. He can take comfort, at least, in the realization that pull-no-punches searing rhetoric seemed to work for Al.

What's your read on Baldwin? Does he have a future in politics?


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