Following months of light speculation, Alec Baldwin says he is no longer interested in becoming the mayor of New York City.
A disenchanted Baldwin discussed the opportunity on his weekly podcast hosted on WNYC, "Here's The Thing," and said he just didn't belong with the cast of "horny" characters vying for the high profile role:
I've lost my appetite. Plus the people that are running for mayor - I know this is terrible - I look at them and I don't see myself in that crowd. They're like a guy on a date that you can tell he just can't wait to get his hand up your blouse before even the lights go out in the theatre. They're all just so horny for it. Horny for their own ascension.
No mention of who the actor was specifically referring to, but Baldwin did say that he was content with his current role as the wonderfully vain, television executive Jack Donaghy on NBC's "30 Rock."
I've got a good job. Is the most creative thing in the world? Am I doing The Insider with Michael Mann? Am I doing some edgy, like finely chiseled social drama? No. Am I doing To Kill a Mockingbird? No, I'm doing a sitcom.
But we have fun, and it's a family and I love in New York and I've got a life, it's been a great harbor for me in my life. Give this up for what? I give up money and fame and position and success, I give up this wonderful life I have now in exchange for the chance to really change things. Yeah, I'm not quite sure you can any more.
Baldwin has been a loud voice in the political arena, often criticizing Mayor Bloomberg and deriding Sarah Palin for her "faux populism," and even hinting at a run for office against Joe Lieberman in 2009. Back in August, Baldwin ran his own rumor mill by telling The Times that he would "probably sit out in 2013 but run in a later election."
Speculation increased as Baldwin employed his comedic chops at the Mayor's Award for Arts and Culture event, when an announcer introduced the mayor of New York, and Baldwin raced up to the podium to accept the award.