Matt Damon for President? In US Politics, They Have Seen Crazier Scripts

Karmadillo

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Sun Aug-14-11 01:49 PM
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Matt Damon for President? In US Politics, They Have Seen Crazier Scripts

Damon v. Obama 2.0 would make for quite the campaign. The Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party would be reborn and a world of possibilities that has pretty much disasppeared would pretty much appear again. And, as the article points out, Damon might even win.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/08/14-5

Published on Sunday, August 14, 2011 by the Sunday Observer/UK
Matt Damon for President? In US Politics, They Have Seen Crazier Scripts
The line between Hollywood fame and political power is often blurred, so suggestions that the liberal actor might run can't be dismissed
by Paul Harris

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So why is Damon's name being mentioned in the context of the 2012 race for the White House and a possible liberal challenge to Barack Obama? The simple answer is to blame leftwing firebrand Michael Moore.

Moore, in a discussion with the liberal politics blog Firedoglake, raised the issue as he talked about his frustration with Obama, who many American leftists see as ignoring them while compromising with the Republican party. Moore called Damon's political stances in recent years courageous and urged him to run, despite there being no hint from the actor himself that he would care to. In a nod to the acting past of two-time Republican President Ronald Reagan, Moore said: "The Republicans have certainly shown the way that when you run someone who is popular, you win. Sometimes even when you run an actor, you win."

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Damon has won the hearts of many liberals by criticizing Obama over policy issues, and standing up for teachers. Speaking at a recent Save Our Schools march in Washington, DC, he angrily denied a reporter's suggestion that teachers were cosseted. "A teacher wants to teach. I mean, why else would you take a shitty salary, and really long hours, and do that job, unless you really love to do it?" he fumed. A video of the encounter went viral, with Damon being hailed a hero by teachers' groups.

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. He founded the H2O Africa Foundation, which later became Water.org and which aims to bring clean water to disadvantaged people. He has been involved with Darfur. "Matt Damon seems like a real person on these things. He's running that whole water issue. That actually takes up a lot of his time," said Richard Laermer, a celebrity expert and author of the book 2011: Trendspotting. On a host of issues Damon has eloquently and publicly spoken on subjects dear to liberal hearts. He has slammed the recent debt-ceiling deal struck by Obama and the Republicans and called for rich people like himself to be taxed more. He has spoken against the Iraq war.

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