Alec Baldwin has spent the past year or so gracefully backing out of things: 30 Rock, Men In Black III, the Emmys, Rock Of Ages (though he changed his mind, possibly regrettably), his Twitter account, the implicit contract between airline and passenger, etc. But now Alec Baldwin is backing out of a commitment that only he himself seemed to take seriously—namely, his possible candidacy for mayor of New York in 2013. With the deadline looming to launch his campaign, Baldwin let slip on his “Here’s The Thing” show for WNYC, after director Stephen Daldry kidded that the whole show was just a springboard for his political career, that he’s out of the hypothetical race. “I’ve lost my appetite,” Baldwin said before adding, “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.”
But while the city might worry itself that Baldwin just isn’t horny enough to get it up for the city anymore—and maybe that New York should ask itself what it should be doing differently, like lose some weight or take it easy on the red wine or maybe, for once, New York shouldn’t put on its old, gross “Bob's Big Boy” T-shirt like five minutes after New York gets home—there’s also potentially some good news, for New Yorkers and beyond. Baldwin also seemed to leave the question of his leaving 30 Rock a little more open-ended than it’s been in a while, declaring, “I’ve got a good job” before asking himself, “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 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 anymore.” Right: Can’t win, don’t try, make more 30 Rock. Let someone else screw New York. [via EW]