The announcement this week that Matthew McConaughey is considering a run for Governor of Texas in 2022 has sparked a lot of feelings on the Internet.
Reactions range from the joyful enthusiasm of fans and those impressed by the 51-year-old Oscar-winning actor’s recent storm relief and gun-control campaigns, to stark warnings to “stay out of Texas politics”, and an endorsement from Stella Parton, Dolly Parton’s younger sister.
The news received a frosty eye-roll in established, Republican and Democratic political circles in the Lone Star State.
Some, who view the recent White House exit with relief, have dismissed McConaughey as yet another inexperienced, Hollywood star ‘interfering’ in politics – and have warned him not to look to (what is now not exactly a short list of celebrities-turned-politicians) President Donald Trump, President Ronald Reagan, and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, as his role-models.
One Democratic advisor in the state, who asked not to be named, toldThe Independent: “No one is going to take seriously an actor who half-heartedly announces the news on a podcast.”
CNN political analyst Jim Moore warned the True Detective star: “You are not prepared. Be kind to your state and yourself. Stick with what you know.”
But following last month’s Gallup poll that revealed a record-high of 62 per cent of Americans feel that a third party option is needed, some have started eyeing the eccentric actor from Austin, who has refused to come out as a Republican or Democrat, as a potential candidate.
On 10 March, The Libertarian Party of Texas, the state arm of the US’s third most popular party, tweeted: “Hey, @McConaughey, can we talk?”
Third, or ‘minor’, parties have historically performed poorly in US politics. This is largely attributed to first-past-the-post (FPTP), which favours a two-party system, leading to less room for smaller parties who cannot gain any representation without an outright win.
Since 1990, just six (2 per cent) governors out of 369 have been elected from minor parties; the most recent being Alaska’s Bill Walker, a Republican turned independent, who merged his campaign with Democratic nominee Byron Mallott in 2014. He dropped out of the 2018 race after low polling.
Only 53 independent candidates for governor (14 per cent) have won at least 5 per cent of the vote.
An independent, third party candidate has never won a presidential election, not counting President George Washington who ran as an independent, but supported by the Federalist party.
Only once, in 1912, did a major party come third in a general election, when former president Theodore Roosevelt, represented by the Progressive Party, surpassed the Republicans to come second, beaten by the Democrat Woodrow Wilson.
Not exactly a rounding endorsement for Mr McConaughey to run as a third party nominee.
But Bekah Congdon, vice-chair of the Texas arm of The Libertarian Party, who sent the tweet to Mr McConaughey and is hoping to set up a meeting with him, said that following what some see as a disappointing premiership with Republican Abbott, they see an opportunity.
She told The Independent: “Texas has for so long felt like a completely red state and we know it’s not. It has been about 26 years since a Democrat won a statewide electron here [Ann Richards 1991-1995] so it’s clear we have been stuck in one way of thinking for such a long time and that is holding us back as a state.”
Founded in 1971, following the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, the Libertarians focus on the rights of individuals over ‘government intervention’ and bill themselves as culturally liberal and fiscally conservative; supporting same-sex marriage, but also gun-rights (which Ms Congdon admits might not align with the actor’s previous campaigns on gun-control).
In 2016, the party appeared to be on the rise. It counted two ex governors as its presidential candidates and received 4.5million (3.3 per cent) votes; its most successful national election result ever.
But in 2020, following a polarising four years, its popularity faded, fielding a vice presidential candidate, Spike Cohen, who promised “free ponies” and “zombie power”, with candidate Jo Jorgensen winning just 1.86million votes (1.18 per cent).
Ms Congdon added that the Magic Mike star appealed because of his “independent spirit”.
“He isn’t Republican or Democrat and does a lot of pointing out negatives and positives on both sides. Wanting to stop nasty political rhetoric and bridge that divide”, she said.
“It has been building over the years as he has become more vocal here. He is someone who is relatable, someone who people like and respect, and has an enviable platform.”
Speaking toThe Longview News Journal last week, Mr McConaughey said he was “serious about the right leadership role” but was put off by bipartisan politics.
He said: “For me, I need politics to define its purpose before I would choose it as a possible lane for me to pursue. I don’t know that politics is my category where I would be the most useful — I am looking for where I would be the most useful and it may be that I could be more useful as a free agent.”
He then gave one of his trademark, confusing monologues, in which he appeared to endorse a third option, outside of mainstream politics.
“I’ve said this analogy a few times before, but someone told me: ‘There ain’t nothing in the middle but dead armadillos and yellow lines.’ I said, ‘Well, I’m walking right down the yellow lines, right in the middle of the highway right now. And the armadillos are free having a great time, because right now, both sides are so far to the right or the left, there aren’t even tires on the pavement.’”
Ms Congdon added: “It’s hard to tell if he’s serious, but we’re here for it if he is.”
Born in Ulvalde, Texas, in 1969, Mr McConaughey rose to fame in 1993’s coming-of-age film, Dazed and Confused, before starring in a slew of critically panned romantic comedies in the 2000s that painted him as a talentless, hunk known for giving rambling, nonsensical interviews and his catchphrase: “Alright, alright, alright”.
In the 2010s, the actor, who was famously once arrested for playing the bongos naked, launched a comeback that he called a “McConaissance”, appearing in multiple hits including The Wolf of Wallstreet in 2013 and winning an Academy Award for his role in Dallas Buyer’s Club in 2014.
Over the last few years, the actor, alongside a slew of other Texas-born stars like Beyoncé and Sandra Bullock, has become increasingly active in civic life in his home state and is a regular name in the wake of disasters, whether that is in the form of a large cheque, or boots on the ground with his foundation, Just Keep Livin’, that opened in 2008.
In 2017, he ruffled feathers when he called for the entertainment industry to get behind Donald Trump and be “constructive” during his presidency.
A year later he spoke at gun-control rally March for Our Lives, where he urged law-abiding, gun owners to “take one for the team” and give up some of their gun rights.
When the pandemic hit in spring last year, the city of Austin sent out the “Matt signal”, using the well-liked actor in a series of adverts to persuade residents to stay at home and practise social distancing.
But it was in autumn last year that things began to change.
The Wedding Planner star, who was appointed ‘Minister for Culture’ and visiting film professor by his alma mater, The University of Texas, in 2019, started to tell multiple media outlets that he is looking for a “leadership role” where he can effect “change”.
In February, after Mr McConaughey was one of several Texas-born celebrities to fundraise following the freak snowstorms that left thousands without power, Texas Monthly published a piece titled: ‘Matthew McConaughey and Beyoncé Did More for Texas Than Ted Cruz’; the disgraced Texas senator who was caught breaking his own lockdown rules to escape the storm to a Mexico beach resort.
Then, last week, after months of denying it, he casually told Houston-based podcast, The Balanced Voice that running against RepublicanGreg Abbott when he is up for re-election as Governor of Texas next year, is “a true consideration”.
On social media, his mooted run has received mixed reviews, with some saying it’s “Beto or bust”, in reference to Beto O’Rourke, the Democratic politician who lost out on the Texas Senate seat to Cruz in 2018 and the presidential nomination in 2020.
But, even if Mr McConaughey declined the invitation from the Libertarians (whose own candidate selection system would be his first hurdle), many believe there could still be space for a third party, or a high-profile, independent candidate.
The most recent high-profile success story is Vermont’s Bernie Sanders, the longest-serving independent US senator, who has switched back and forth between independent and Democrat several times.
Whilst his 2016 and 2020 Democrat presidential runs were unsuccessful, some analysts have credited his grassroots campaigns with pushing the party further left.
Yesterday, even The New York Times conceded that the time might be right for a third party to rise, publishing an op-ed that called for a party of “the liberal centre”, that showed “respect for the outcome of elections, the rule of law [and] freedom of speech” but “scepticism of identity politics ... dictators and demagogues”.
Columnist Bret Stephens wrote: “This is not a political party, yet. But it could be the seeds of a party.”
Alright, alright, alright.
