Matthew McConaughey Has Made A Decision On Running For Texas Governor
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Matthew McConaughey looked like he had his eyes set on a political seat in his future. There was starting to be a buildup for the dude to make a run at the Governor of Texas seat. And why not? McConaughey has become something of the face for the state at times, bringing his freedom-loving Southern drawl to different roles throughout his career. But in a recent interview with the New York Times Sway Podcast, McConaughey talked about this as a future goal and how he might be backing off some from the idea. The actor discussed the downsides of a run for office while also weighing in on the current political environment.
During the talk, Matthew McConaughey discussed some of the problematic pieces of effecting change from within a political office rather than working as a private citizen on certain initiatives. While he didn’t give a definitive answer about the run for the Governor of Texas, he might as well have in his summation of what politicians do while in office. Here’s what he told podcast host Kara Swisher:
Is that a place to make real change or is it a place where right now it’s a fixed game, you go in there, you just put on a bunch of band-aids, in four years you walk out and they rip them off and you’re gone?” the actor told Swisher. “I’m not interested in that.”
Does that sound like a dude itching to be in the big chair for the state of Texas or someone who feels ultra-confident in the current political system/ climate? Not exactly. Now, the question more becomes about whether Matthew McConaughey reached this conclusion because of a good hard look at the political waters, deeming them to be too vapid and useless to actually consider a run? Or was it that his people did the proper internal audits and polling only to determine he wouldn’t have actually been able to win? On that front, we might never know. He also called the system a “bag of rats” later on in the interview, as if to leave no doubt.
This interview with Matthew McConaughey had come on the heels of multiple rumors and reports that he was seriously considering a run for the Governor of Texas. Rumors abounded that he was beginning to work with a team and gauging the state’s voter interest in having the actor put his name on the ballot. He was born and raised in Texas, getting early acting gigs in shoots there and eventually landing the career jumpstart role of Wooderson in Dazed and Confused.
That being said, The Hollywood Reporter also had it that Matthew McConaughey wasn’t in active fundraising mode and hadn’t even been screening a potential staff. Those would be two crucial and necessary moves if he was considering the next step. Money talks in politics and you need professionals in the field to actually mount a credible campaign no matter the implied and actual star power of the candidate. Having not done either of these things would signal that he wasn’t all that serious to begin with.
Matthew McConaughey has remained active in the state as well, starting the Just Keep Livin Foundation and even making his permanent home in Austin. From that perspective, he’s stayed close to his roots. And for now, it looks like he is just going to stick as a resident of the state rather than the guy trying to run the whole damn thing. But if he changed his mind, it sure looks like he has the time. As of right now, Matthew McConaughey doesn’t have any acting gigs in the pipeline.
