30 Rock star and staunch Democrat Alec Baldwin has long talked about running for political office -- and soon he may be putting his money where his mouth is. In the wake of Congressman Anthony Weiner's Twitter/texting/sexting scandal, speculation is rampant that Baldwin is considering running for mayor of New York City, a job now held by Michael Bloomberg. A friend of the actor tells The Daily that when the Weiner scandal broke, "Alec said, 'Hey, maybe this changes the race. The dynamics have shifted.'"
Indeed they have. Having reached his term limit, Mayor Bloomberg will not run again in 2013. And Rep. Weiner, who had always had his eye on the mayorship of New York, is now all but out of the running. Says The Daily's source: "The Democrats need a high-profile candidate, and Alec can fill that bill."
Indeed he can. The Emmy-winning Baldwin, 53, publicly supported Barack Obama during his 2008 presidential bid, has been an outspoken advocate for liberal causes, and has not been afraid to criticize national policies, in print and on Twitter. He has also made it known that when his 30 Rock contract expires next year, he wants to retire from acting, perhaps clearing the way for a political career.
As far back as 1997, Baldwin was musing about politics as an alternate career, saying in a New York magazine cover story, "Is this something that I want to do? Yes."
In an interview on Parker Spitzer in December 2010, Baldwin, who grew up in Long Island, N.Y., suggested that perhaps the wrong kind of people have been monopolizing positions of government power. "I don't want to say this in an anti-elitist way, but we've had men who are Ivy League groomed running this country since 1988," he said. "We've had 22 years of Yale and Harvard running this country right now, and the problems aren't getting solved."
So would an actor and celebrity potentially be the right kind of person to get those problems solved? Well, when asked this morning whether Baldwin might run for New York City mayor, Alec's rep told The Hollywood Reporter: "I wouldn't rule it out."
Source: http://www.ivillage.com/alec-baldwin-may-run-nyc-mayor-would-you-vote-him/1-a-356313
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