Don’t Count on a Matt Damon Presidency

COMMENTARY | Could Matt Damon, the actor, run for president as a really far left alternative to Barack Obama? As The Guardian’s Observer suggests, stranger things have happened. And Damon would hardly be the first actor to get into politics.

As well as turning in solid performances in a number of films ranging from “Good Will Hunting” to “Invictus,” Damon has attached himself to a number of causes, some noble, such as helping Africans develop water resources, others somewhat more off-putting, such as the Working Families Party in New York. He is a fan of the late Howard Zinn, author of the Marxist-oriented “The Peoples’ History of the United States.”

American history is filled with actors and other performing artists who have made the jump to politics, including Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Fred Thompson, singer Sonny Bono, pro wrestler Jesse Ventura, and comedian Al Franken. Indeed, there is the somewhat shopworn suggestion that politics itself is a performance art, so the segue from acting to politicking is seamless.

Damon does have some qualities of a good politician. He is certainly telegenic and can be articulate — when reading a script.

On the other hand, Damon is not very good at adlibbing, as demonstrated with rants about teacher pay and the debt ceiling. He would be attempting to go straight to the presidency from Hollywood instead of running for an intermediate job like senator or governor. And he is being endorsed by Michael Moore.

Damon’s politics are likely not a good fit for the presidency. That his potential candidacy is being talked about at all is due to a discontent with Barack Obama for being insufficiently a socialist. But there are a lot of other more experienced pols who could fit the bill of purifying the liberal dogma; both Russ Feingold and Howard Dean come to mind.

Still, running for president is often not an exercise in actually winning. It can be a stroking of the ego, a punishment for people who have strayed from orthodoxy, or it can be a resume-enhancer. If Damon were to run, either in a primary against Obama or as a third party candidate, it would be fun to watch. But it is not likely to result in late-night parties in the Oval Office with George Clooney and Ben Affleck. And, despite how much fun that would be, that is a good thing.

Sources: Matt Damon for president? In US politics, they have seen crazier scripts, Paul Harris, UK Guardian, August 14, 2011

The Peoples History of the United States, Howard Zinn, Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2010

Matt Damon Shows, Tells to Support Teachers at Washington D.C. Rally, Melissa Michalak, Entertainment Weekly, August 1, 2011


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