Affleck said he grew up in a very political house. | REUTERS Affleck: Political money feels 'gross'

Ben Affleck might seem like a political junkie, but the actor appears to have soured on the political system.

Asked by Playboy magazine to explain how he came about his interest in politics, Affleck said: “I grew up in a house with a mother who was a teacher and a Freedom Rider — very left-wing Democrats living in a heterogeneous working-class neighborhood. I picked up a lot of those values there, and I brought them with me when I showed up in Hollywood.”


Affleck talked about having a connection to the presidential campaigns for former Vice President Al Gore and then-Sen. John Kerry — as well as President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign.

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“Over time I became disillusioned, mostly 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. 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 for me personally, it started to feel gross.”

Affleck said he hasn’t liked “being used as a prop to schmooze people and try to milk the teat of the donor for money.”

“We’d do it sparingly. Matt [Damon] and I did a thing for Elizabeth Warren, whom we like and who won. We did a fundraiser for Cory Booker, whom we also like. People now know me as a Democrat, and that will always be the case to some extent.”

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Asked if he’d support a Hillary Clinton presidential run in 2016, Affleck said, “I haven’t abandoned it, but I look at working in politics again with a more jaundiced eye.” And, as for his own political ambition, Affleck says, “I don’t give it serious thought, because it would take me away from what I consider to be the prime of my storytelling career. … I don’t know what the future holds when I’m 55, 65 or 75. Right now it’s about making movies I believe in, that I think will thrill and entertain and be meaningful to audiences.”

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This article tagged under: Campaign Finance

Ben Affleck