March 15 – More celebrities in politics? A handful of them look like they might be seriously considering it. The most recent announcement came from Meghan Markle, who’s been in discussions with senior Democrats about a run for President of the United States.
Markle’s father is from Perry County, right here in the Keystone State. Attorney Clint Barkdoll, Pat Ryan and Michele Jansen discussed the issue today.
“I certainly don’t see her as a viable candidate,” Barkdoll said.
Although Markle has already made a pretty good chunk of change. She’s allegedly cut deals with Spotify and Netflix, reportedly in upwards of $100 million, so she would have the financial backing to make the run.
“I wouldn’t see a campaign getting any traction,” Barkdoll said. “I don’t know what background she would have whatsoever to do this, but more and more it seems these Hollywood types are showing an interest in politics.”
Indeed, Matthew McConaughey teased about a possibility of running for Governor of Texas.
Although questions have come up about Prince Harry’s choice of costume for a party in 2005 – a Nazi uniform, complete with swastika.
Jansen said, “If there was a Republican who wanted to run for president whose husband had worn a Hitler outfit at some kind of party that was featured in the media, I don’t think they would have a chance at even getting to the starting line.”
Markle’s television history includes Deal or No Deal as one of the briefcase women and Suits, a television show with a lot of salacious content.
“I’m sure all this stuff would come up,” Barkdoll noted. “Remember Kayne West ran for president. Got on a few state ballots and things were brought up about his music.”
Could the real goal to all of this just be publicity?
“I think a lot of these people are maybe dumb like a fox,” Barkdoll said. “They know this is a big PR ploy. It gets them a lot of attention maybe they parlay it into more television or music deals. But it’s interesting. Here we are three years out and she’s already throwing it out that she could be a candidate.”
Pat Ryan’s response to it all: an audible, belabored sigh.
Jansen said, “At least Matthew McConaughey seems to have a brain between his ears when it comes to some of these subjects. It’s interesting to me that there’s a strong opinion piece from CNN against McConaughey running. If CNN is against you, there’s a reason you shouldn’t be doing it.”
Ben Affleck is another name out there, too. He’s been kicking around a possible run for some kind of office for years. “Too awkward,” Ryan declared. “They guy’s just too awkward. He’s too uncomfortable.”
Mark Cuban is another possible candidate.
“I’m dismissive of these candidacies,” Barkdoll said. “But if you look around the world, you have actors and actresses that have been elected to the highest office in the land. As we sit here today, all this stuff seems farfetched. These people would not be qualified, but yet you’re seeing countries around the world where similar things have happened.”
Jansen added, “We live in a social media, very shallow idea of popular means smart or popular means bright and that’s very nerve wracking.”
Maybe Markle will be on the ballot in 2024. We’ll have to wait and see.
