Alright alright alright. Well what the fuck do we have here?
According to a new poll from the Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler, actor, Austin FC minority owner, and Texas Longhorns superfan, Matthew McConaughey has a double-digit lead over current Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in a potential 2022 race.
Wait, what?
The hypothetical matchup was posed in the poll, where 45 percent of respondents said they would back the actor, while 33 percent would vote for Abbott. Twenty-two percent said they would vote for anyone else.
“Anyone else” is usually a pretty popular choice in today’s political culture for good reason. I guess I, too, would take anyone else if I lived in the lone star state and had to choose between someone else and the incumbent governor who seems more interested in culture wars, like the MLB All-Star game, than actually governing. But I definitely didn’t have an Abbott-McConaughey-anyone else gubernatorial race on my 2022 bingo card. We’ll see if it actually happens. It’s up to y’all, Texas
We already know that McConaughey is considering a run. He went so far as to say he “would be a fool not to” think about it. But he hasn’t declared… at least not yet.
Maybe McConaughey is a symptom of the celebrity politician era? Maybe he already wants to get out of the MLS. Or maybe he has a personal desire to extend his book deal? I don’t have all the answers, folks.
But I do have one question. Just how many Longhorn fans were a part of this survey? The poll won’t say. So what are they hiding!?! That critical data could skew McConaughey’s approval numbers.
How many UT-Austin football supporters would like to see their superfan take the governor’s mansion? Probably a whole lot. At the same time, how many college football fans around the state would like to see that actor anywhere but the Longhorn’s sidelines on Saturday afternoon? I’m sure quite a few would.
Maybe there are Texas fans who actually like McConaughey, but are now wary about his involvement in the football program after years of “insert brand name” bowl appearances. Maybe if Matthew McConaughey leaves the gridiron to become governor, UT football can start winning championships again? I don’t know, superstitions can lead sports fans to do crazy things.
We’ll see if the actor, author, team minority owner, and superfan will actually add one more job to his resume soon enough.