Vote Alec Baldwin for Congress
Actor weighing run in Long Island, New Jersey or Connecticut
By JENNIFER MILLMAN
Updated 4:41 PM EDT, Tue, Jul 7, 2009
Move over, Arnold. There may be a new celebri-tician in town.
Alec Baldwin is interested in a career move – one that would whisk him away from the capital of the entertainment world to Capitol Hill. The actor told Playboy Magazine he is considering a run for political office in Long Island, New Jersey or Connecticut, but admitted it wouldn't be hard for his opponents to penetrate his political armor.
"I'll put it this way," Baldwin told the magazine. "The desire is there; that's one component. The other component is opportunity."
A Long Island native, the Emmy Award-winning actor said he's thought about relocating to New Jersey or Connecticut to run for Congress, joking he'd love to give Independent incumbent Joe Lieberman a run for his money. Baldwin also said an anonymous Democratic law firm sent him a letter asking him to move to Ohio and run for governor, but that none of the above was going to happen.
"I'm a carry-me-out-in-a-box New Yorker," he said.
Besides, you never know what's going to happen in New York politics, Baldwin said, citing the downfall of Eliot Spitzer and the resignation of Hillary Clinton, which allowed then virtually unknown upstate Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to take her place.
"Two of the biggest forces [are] gone," Baldwin pointed out. "Maybe Andrew Cuomo will run for one of their old seats. How much longer will Chuck Schumer stay as senator? After 2013 Bloomberg will be gone. What happens then?"
We're sure Bloomberg would appreciate you giving him the election in November, Alec.
March 2012 is the dead date for Baldwin's Hollywood career, the "30 Rock" actor told Playboy. Then anything's on the table. But will his career in comedy come back to haunt him should he make the jump on to the political scene?
Baldwin hopes people will understand that what he does as an actor doesn't reflect his behavior in private life.
"The day you say 'I am a candidate,' you have a different responsibility," Baldwin told Playboy. "You hope the American public has the ability to delineate what of your private behavior matters and what doesn’t."
A candidate running with a record of DUIs or tax evasion, for example, warrants more scrutiny than someone who's accused of womanizing, Baldwin said. But he admitted that when you're running for public office, you'll probably get judged for everything – and given the amount of time Baldwin's spent making fun of politics on SNL, he knows he'd give the public – and his opponents – plenty of ammunition should he run for Congress.
"These guys will have a field day," Baldwin said. "I've given them so much crap to use against me… If I run for political office, they'll have a forest of material to kill me with."
First Published: Jul 7, 2009 8:35 AM EDT on NBC New York
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