President Damon?

When I read that lefty actor Matt Damon is being urged to run for president, my first impulse was to laugh. After all, the far left is promoting him.

Like many other progressives, Damon has grown weary of Democrats looking for phony centrism instead of standing up to a shockingly far-right Republican party. Against this backdrop, Damon’s principled and public stands do indeed make us sit up and pay attention.

Progressive star Michael Moore went so far as to suggest that Damon run for president in an online townhall with the blog, FireDogLake.  Moore wants Damon because Moore is unhappy that President Obama has continually tracked to the right with conservative narratives about taxes, spending and the role of government, saying that debt is the “greatest threat” facing the United States today. That’s right, not military spending, the banks, corporate excess and corruption, poverty, and a few other pressing problems. Yes, Obama has a tough job dealing with the rigid, ransom-seeking right-wing. But seriously, Mr. President. Get on message. We need to be spending money, not cutting jobs.

So, it’s an entertaining thought, Matt Damon for president. We’ve had Reagan, Schwarzenegger, et al. Why not a progressive star this time? This presidential trial balloon idea even caught attention across the Atlantic where an article in the (UK) Guardian had an interesting take on Damon and celebrity politics.

I don’t know what the deadlines are to run in the Democratic primary, but I think the man has zero chance of unseating Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton might in theory be able to do it, but not Matt Damon. The Democrats as a whole are too smart to replace Obama with a leftist Hollywood celebrity with no experience, and not even a college degree. His candidacy would be a joke. (Comparisons to Reagan are inapt, as the man was much more than a former actor; he was a popular and charismatic two term governor of the biggest state in the country.)

However, if I were on Obama’s team, I would be delighted to see Matt Damon run, because it would make Obama look like an embattled centrist, under fire from the Hollywood left. Factor that into the inevitable painting of whoever the Republican opponent is as weird, or far right, or out of touch with American values, and that billion or so they have in the campaign war chest can spin Obama into the most centrist conservative president we’ve ever been lucky to have!

Is Damon a true believer who is as disenchanted as they claim? If so, he might be too blinded by ideology to care whether he helps Obama.

Anyway, Obama is ready for him.