It’s not that Hollywood star Ben Affleck has turned Republican. But at the same time, he said that all his fundraising for Democrats has begun to leave him with a sick stomach.
His specific words, Newsmax reported: “Over time, I became disillusioned” with all the fundraising for Al Gore, John Kerry and Barack Obama. “Mostly [it was] with the pernicious effect of money in politics. I realized it was about raising $56,000 through a couple of dinners, and those bundlers who bring in $1 million or $2 million.”
Mr. Affleck said that he actually “started to feel gross,” Newsmax reported.
He went on: “Those people are dedicated, and they believe in what they’re doing. I believe in why many of them are doing it. What I don’t believe in is that we now have the need to do it … [and] being used as a prop to schmooze people and try to milk the teat of the donor for money” is what caused the “gross” feeling.
The Hollywood heavyweight admitted he and colleague Matt Damon “had a thing for Elizabeth Warren” and helped with her Senate campaign, along with that of Cory Booker.
But don’t expect more of the same if Hillary Rodham Clinton runs in 2016, he said.
“I haven’t abandoned it, but I look at working in politics again with a more jaundiced eye,” he said, as Newsmax reported. “Hillary does excite me, in the same way the potent symbolism of the first African-American president was what thrilled people about Obama. It’s similar with Hillary and gender equality. The idea that 100 years after women got the right to vote, to have a woman president would be exciting.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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