8/18/2005

Walken for President

Claim: Actor Christopher Walken is planning on making a bid for the U.S. presidency in 2008.

Status: False.

Origins: Actor Ronald Reagan parlayed his film career and experience as president of the Screen Actors Guild into a political career that saw him twice elected as both Governor of California and President of the United States. Television actor Fred Grandy (of Love Boat fame) served four consecutive terms as in the U.S. Congress representing the state of Iowa. And action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger currently holds the governorship of California. So, with the 2008 race for U.S. president possibly shaping up to be a wide-open one, why wouldn't an actor such as, say, Christopher Walken test the waters and see if he could make a go of it?

That's the premise behind such web sites as www.walken2008.com and www.walkenforpres.com, which are supposedly maintained by the "Walken 2008 Campaign" and tout a putative actor-turned-candidate who says "It's time to get America back on track."

However, the Walken for President web sites are hoaxes, according to the actor's publicist:
A Web site announcing Hollywood actor Christopher Walken plans to seek the U.S. presidency is a hoax, his publicist says.

The site, walken2008.com claims to quote the actor as saying, "It's time to get America back on track," and says he will run for the nation's top post in 2008.

But his rep told "Entertainment Tonight" that the site is "100 percent not true."

"(It) sounds like someone got a little too excited over his role as secretary of the Treasury in 'The Wedding Crashers' and now they want to make him president," the rep said.
Rumors regarding who is behind the stunt range from its being a marketing campaign for the 2005 film Wedding Crashers (in which Walken plays the role of U.S. Secretary of the Treasury) to its being merely an elaborate prank.

*** Dammit I prolly would have voted for him :)lol...-Blue

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