Quote:
Originally Posted by John Bull
You, Alex Baldwin and what is that female singers name?  |
POLITICAL SMART ALEC
Baldwin sees Weiner’s implosion as opportunity for him in 2013
By Richard Johnson Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Alec Baldwin is mulling a run for mayor of New York City now that kinky Congressman Anthony Weiner appears to have sexted himself out of the 2013 race.
The “30 Rock” star, who has long talked about running for political office, believes Weinergate has shaken up the field of candidates enough that he might have a chance to win, a friend of the actor told The Daily.
“Alec said, ‘Hey, maybe this changes the race. The dynamics have shifted,’ ” said Baldwin’s pal.
“The Democrats need a high-profile candidate, and Alec can fill that bill.”
Baldwin, a die-hard Democrat originally from Massapequa, a suburb on Long Island, N.Y., has said 2012 will be his last year on “30 Rock,” which would free him up for a 2013 mayoral run.
He’d be the biggest name by far to throw his hat in the ring to succeed Mayor Michael Bloomberg at “the second hardest job” in the nation, Weiner’s dream gig before his sordid fall from grace.
Bloomberg, who had New York City’s term-limit law rewritten to win his third term, isn’t expected to run again in 2013. The likely candidates include City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Councilman Bill de Blasio, and former New York comptroller Bill Thompson, who narrowly lost to Bloomberg in 2009.
Meanwhile, Baldwin probably won’t be able to run for Weiner’s congressional seat representing parts of Brooklyn and Queens, even if he wanted to. As a result of the last census, New York State is expected to lose two seats.
“They’ll take one Republican district upstate, and one Democratic district in the city,” said one political operative. “Weiner can say goodbye to his seat.”
Baldwin, 53, famous for his liberal politics, has been talking about the possibility of running for office since the ’90s.
“Is this something that I want to do? Yes,” Baldwin said in a 1997 New York magazine cover story on his political ambitions. But he said it didn’t seem like the right time.
“The men and women that run the world are in their 50s. It takes time to build that kind of thing. I’m 39.”
Fast-forward 11 years. In a 2008 interview on “60 Minutes,” Baldwin mused about being in his 50s and said it was possible that politics would be his second act.
“There’s no age limit on running for office, to a degree,” he said. It’s “something I might do, one day.”
Last year, the New York Daily News reported that the Working Families Party had considered Baldwin as a replacement candidate for its gubernatorial ticket, after a federal probe cast doubt on whether Andrew Cuomo would accept their ballot line. Baldwin’s spokesman told the newspaper he wasn’t interested.
Baldwin said in an interview with CNN’s Eliot Spitzer in January that he was “very interested” in running for office. He said he had been approached in the past about political offices outside New York, but that he would prefer to live in the Big Apple.
“I do believe that people want to believe that someone who deeply cares about the middle class … would like to seek public office,” Baldwin said.
– With Ashley Kindergan
