From today’s Washington Post:
If you liked him as Bennifer . . . you’ll love him as Benator!
That’s the hot new idea being tossed around by Virginia Democrats, who are desperately searching for a big name to challenge the reelection bid of rising GOP star Sen. George Allen next year, now that outgoing Gov. Mark Warner has ducked out.
Why, who should happen to be pondering a move to Thomas Jefferson country but a certain square-jawed media magnet with a taste for liberal politics and millions to spend on it…Ben Affleck! Star of “Gigli” and the J.Lo tab romance, now happily settled with “Alias” star Jennifer Garner.
[…]
It was [a few weeks ago] that party officials started batting Affleck’s name around. “It’s spread pretty widely, at least in the political underground,” University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato, Virginia’s premier pundit, told Michael Shear, The Post’s Richmond correspondent.
Well, that just shows how uncool I am — this is the first I’d heard of it. I don’t know the first thing about Ben Affleck (I think I’ve seen him in some movies, but I haven’t seen a lot of movies in general), but this certainly sounds a bit silly. On the other hand, with Schwarzenegger and Reagan each having done a craptacular job in office, maybe he’s damned well good enough. Like I said, I don’t know anything about the guy.
I was pleased to read this bit in the article:
Another name on the wish list: blockbuster legal-thriller writer John Grisham. But the central Virginia farmhouse owner, who gives generously to Democrats and did a stint in the Mississippi legislature, has brushed off past overtures, sources say.
Hell yeah. Grisham has given a metric pantload of money to candidates ($262,000 to state candidates in the past decade, including $75,000 to Kaine, and the maximum to federal candidates in the past few years), he’s a smart guy, and he’s been in the legislature, albeit in Mississippi. Unlike Affleck, he’s a credible candidate. Also unlike Affleck, I think Grisham would only run to win, whereas perhaps Affleck would do it to keep Sen. George Allen on his toes and weaken his shot at a presidential bid in 2008.
Thanks to Jim Duncan for the tip.
This is all a load of crap on so many different levels that I don’t even know where to start.
First of all, there’s been no buzz about this in ‘Virginia Democratic circles.’ I think that someone is having a good laugh right now at the reporter’s expense.
Second of all, how exactly does winning reelection in what would be the most high-profile race in America ‘weaken’ a candidate for ’08? Allen would become the GOP torch-bearer who slew the big, bad Hollywood carpetbagger liberal. If anything, it would improve his standing within the Republican party and help his odds of winning the ’08 nomination.
Stupid, stupid, stupid all around.
how exactly does winning reelection in what would be the most high-profile race in America ‘weaken’ a candidate for ‘08?
Only in one sense: it would sap Allen of millions of dollars he could otherwise keep in his war chest.
Obviously, I don’t run in Virginia “Democratic circles”, but I’ve been hearing rumblings for weeks that the Dems have a candidate that they think is going to be great for that Senate run.
This is the first time I’ve heard a name attached to it. But I’ve definitely been catching the “buzz,” at least partially.
For what it’s worth….
I wonder to what degree that’s just an attempt to keep anybody from running that hasn’t been blessed by the leadership. There was a woman who ran against Sen. Warner last time around — her name escapes me — who couldn’t get the nomination. Rather than have “undesirables” running, they may well be insisting that they have somebody while they’ve tried to find somebody. (We witnessed just such a gambit in a recent contest here in Central Virginia. It turned out that they had…nobody.)
OTOH, they may have had Affleck in mind all along. But you’d think they could do better.
The 2 guys who they have in mind against Allen are Don Beyer & L.F. Payne. Both are guys who would represent the party credibly and finish up with around 47%. I’m sure they’ll be through with their finger-in-the-wind primary by February at the latest. Tempermentally, I can’t see either of them running the kind of aggressive, creative campaign that it would take to beat Allen.
With Mark Warner skipping this one in favor of his White House run, any candidate who would have a prayer of beating Allen would have to come from outside the usual circles. Any ideal choice from the present pool of talent would have presented it’s self by now. If I were the state party chairman I would be putting out feelers in veterans organizations. What you need is a ‘Paul Hackett’ type.
Ideally, if these things could be scripted, I’d want an unknown Iraqi war veteran running in the primary against a well-known insider like Don Beyer and beating him. The world loves an underdog who defies expectations. The press would eat that up.
Looking at raw political talent, I could see Creigh Deeds being a smart pick for John Warner’s seat in ’08. Assuming that he wins this race for AG and does a good job. But the ’08 Senate races are a whole other story.
Gail Crook – Dem Write In
Jacon Hornberger – Libertarian
Forgot her name – Crazy Larouchian
So that means we can exchange one Californian for another, right?
(But this one has a wife from West Virginia!)
I saw Ben Affleck here 3 years ago. Word at the time was he was simply scouting around for property in Albemarle County. Then he went through the whole Bennifer thing. J-Lo obviously was not going to live on a Virginia horse ranch. Now he and the new Jennifer have been spotted in the area again. I think he just likes us. And I wouldn’t think any movie star would do well in politics right now in the era of the Governator. IMHO.