I love Alec Baldwin as an actor. From his role as Doc in "The Getaway" to his more recent and less violent work on "30 Rock," he's great. On top that he's an NYU alumnus — what's not to love? Answer: his mayoral ambitions.
In light of former congressman Anthony Weiner's fall from grace and the impending end of Mayor Bloomberg's long reign, there has been talk of Alec Baldwin running for mayor in 2013 — and Baldwin's doing a bit of the talking, though he says a 2013 bid is unlikely.
Dismissing the idea of running for a lowly judgeship or a seat in the House of Representatives, Baldwin recently told The New York Times that he was asked to run for office in other states but he did not want to move from New York. Then, in a transparent effort to contrast himself from Bloomberg's billionaire persona, Baldwin declared he was more comfortable living in the Upper West Side rather than in wealthier neighborhoods, saying: "It is more real. There's old people, it's ethnic and it's economically mixed. It's not a little kind of jewel-box, privileged pocket of the city like some neighborhoods are."
In fact, Baldwin's $9.5 million, three-bedroom apartment at the El Dorado overlooking Central Park West stands on a block chock full of multimillion-dollar townhouses. If having neighbors like Michael J. Fox and Faye Dunaway passes for middle class these days, one must wonder if the upper class even exists.
Clearly, it does. Clearly, Mr. Baldwin is part of it.
So, though he has shed his so-called middle-class neighborhood and moved downtown to be closer to his girlfriend, he is far from the common man. Baldwin may "make a lot of money but not think like rich people do" (to borrow his words), but this does not change the fact that any political ambitions of his would merely stem from the public profile maintained by his TV presence.
The era of entertainers-turned-politicians like Ronald Reagan, Jesse Ventura and Al Franken must end. Though Baldwin has dubbed himself "Tocqueville compared to Arnold Schwarzenegger," a former muscleman and governor of an economically ravaged state should not be the standard by which statesmen are measured. If it was, half-baked propositions like the Strategic Defense Initiative (better known as Star Wars) would be the norm in a world of far-fetched policy authored by photogenic men ignorant of the bureaucratic necessities that make government effective.
New York is no Carmel, Calif., and Baldwin is no Clint Eastwood. If Baldwin wants in, he will first have to defeat a Democratic machine intent on electing an insider and then court myriad constituencies with specific and often mutually exclusive desires. Less prominent candidates, from City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to former city councilwoman Melinda Katz, are far more qualified to govern. Yet, as we all know, campaigning is what counts, and Baldwin easily has the recognition and positioning to win.
I do not mean to say that film fame should disqualify one from public service. However, it should not be a justifiable means of legitimacy for office. Baldwin says he has been talking with two universities about enrolling in a master's program in politics and government to find out "what's the reality of the city unions, of contracts, agreements, teachers, infrastructure, decentralizing, everything." It seems that many, if not all, the realities of government remain a mystery to him. The city needs to elect a mayor deserving of the office, not someone who thinks he can figure out the bulk of the job in a classroom.
In the meantime, let him keep playing a boss on TV. Baldwin is really good at that, and it pays better.
