I would say I’m surprised, but I’m not.
We all recently learned the news that actor Matthew McConaughey has shown interest in running for governor of Texas.
It’s always iffy on how people truly feel about celebrities running for a political office, but after seeing this poll, I’m fully convinced that Mr. Alright Alright Alright might be the man they want calling the shots in the Lonestar State.
According to ABC 25, a statewide poll shows that head-to-head, McConaughey is favored more than current governor and Republican Greg Abbott, and even Democratic frontrunner Beto O’Rourke among registered voters.
The survey, which was released by the Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler, shows that 49% of voters picked the actor, while 27% picked O’Rourke.
McConaughey did well against Abbott too, winning by 8% over the current governor.
In a ranked preference between the three possible candidates, Abbott leads with 37% or registered voters, with McConaughey taking 27%, and O’Rourke rounding it out at 26%.
The poll surveyed 1,106 registered voters between November 9th and 11th, with a margin of error of plus or minus almost three percentage points.
It’s still unclear if McConaughey will actually run or not, but it’s quite obvious.
The people of Texas want the man in office.
Is McConaughey A Republican Or Democrat?
In a new interview with the New York Times, McConaughey laid it all out there, speaking more candidly about politics than he probably ever has.
And once again, he challenged us all to get aggressively centric.
When it comes to even the term “politics” and the possibility of McConaughey actually running for the Governor of Texas, it all comes down to redefining what that even means:
“I mean, please, help… I’d love to hear some definitions. I’m working on what I’m trying to understand politics to be. I think we’ve got to redefine politics.
If each party’s only about preservation of party, well, I’m almost arguing that’s undemocratic. If you’re only there to, by hook or by crook, preserve your party, you’re leaving out 50 percent of the people. So I think politics needs a redefining.
Look, are the parties so extreme right now that they’re going to walk their way into extinction? I don’t know. What I fear is, you know, great nations aren’t taken over from the outside. They implode.
Civil war— that’s the big fear for me for the country, is this path we’re going. It’s not constructive. I don’t see the way out right now through politics.”
But for McConaughey, the very reason he should stay away from politics is also the very same reason that he should get involved:
“One side of the argument is, ‘McConaughey, exactly. That’s why you need to go get in there.’ The other side is, ‘pfft, that’s a bag of rats, man. Don’t touch that with a 10 foot pole.’”
And as far as a party? Well, McConaughey isn’t playing for either team:
“I think people want a third party and we’ve got one and it doesn’t have a name right now and it is the majority. I’m hesitant to throw labels.
You throw a third party and make it— give it a name, it all of a sudden becomes something that is divisive. But there is a sleeping giant right now. And it’s the majority.
Third party, centrist… I think it’s necessary to be aggressively centric to possibly salvage democracy in America right now.”
Alright, alright, alright… can I get an amen?
