Val Kilmer, the 49-year-old actor who played Iceman in "Top Gun" and was featured in "Batman," was last in Washington for the celebrity-packed Obama inauguration.
This week he came back on a more personal political mission, to lay the groundwork for a possible 2010 run for governor of New Mexico, where he’s lived for the last 20 years.
Kilmer attended the “State of the Indian Nations” address at the Museum of the American Indian. There he ran into Sen. Tom Udall, the new Democratic freshman from New Mexico, and the two – so Hollywood – made a date to do lunch. After lunch, said a spokesman, Udall took him to the Senate gallery, to watch legislation being made.
The actor has been outspoken about his intentions, saying he hasn’t made a final decision yet to run after Gov. Bill Richardson’s term ends. “I’m just looking for ways to be contributive,” he told the Associated Press. “And if that ends up being where I can make a substantial contribution, then I’ll run.”
Saying he has no interest in being governor "for fame and power," Kilmer also told the Boston Globe that actors who run for office usually win. Perhaps channeling Ronald Reagan or Arnold Schwarzenegger, he predicted, "If I run, I’m going to be the next governor."
