Michael Moore urges Matt Damon to run against Obama

Could president face Hollywood celebrity rival in 2012?

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Matt Damon certainly already looks the part in this still from the movie 'The Adjustment Bureau'

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Irish American commentator Michael Moore has urged  actor Matt Damon to run against Obama in  the Democratic primary in 2012 .

The leftist documentary filmmaker was expressing his frustration with Obama in a discussion with the liberal politics blog Firedoglake when he suggested that the 40-year-old actor would be a good choice for the presidency, reports the Guardian.

Moore called Damon's political stances in recent years courageous and urged him to run. Referencing actor-turned-president Ronald Reagan, Moore said: "The Republicans have certainly shown the way that when you run someone who is popular, you win. Sometimes even when you run an actor, you win."

Moore's suggestion quickly spread through the media.

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Damon, who has taken a stand on everything from the Iraq war to education policy, has said publicly that Obama has "mishandled the mandate."

Although the 'Good Will Hunting' actor and screenwriter himself has given no indication that he would be interested in running for president, he certainly would not be the first celebrity to change course and begin a career in politics. The list of U.S performers turned politicians include Reagan, Clint Eastwood, Sonny Bono, Al Franken, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Popular culture expert and Syracuse University professor Robert Thompson says, "The kind of character that pursues an acting career in America is often the same kind of character that pursues a political career. You have to stand up and make people like you and be good on TV."

Damon, who played a politician in "The Adjustment Bureau," has taken on a number of causes. He has been a passionate advocate for the Working Families Party, an obscure leftwing political party that exists as a sort of pressure group in New York state on Democrats and leftists in order to pursue progressive ideals. He also recently stood up for teachers at a recent Save Our Schools march in Washington, DC. He founded the H2O Africa Foundation, which later became Water.org and which aims to bring clean water to disadvantaged people. He slammed the recent debt-ceiling deal struck by Obama and the Republicans and called for rich people like himself to be taxed more.

"An actor has a precious thing in politics. People know who they are and they will pay attention when someone puts a microphone in front of them," said Syracuse's Thompson.

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