SANTA FE (AP) - Actor Val Kilmer says some serious people want him to run for governor of New Mexico.But the actor -- who has a ranch near Santa Fe -- says he hasn't made up his mind. He says if he can make a substantial contribution, he will run.
New Mexicans will elect a governor again in 2010.
A Kilmer candidacy could throw a monkey wrench into the well-oiled Democratic machine of Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish, who's running for the job.
Kilmer says he's been responsible as an artist, parent and community member, but hasn't done much in a public way.
That includes voting. He acknowledges he hasn't voted much. He says he did cast a ballot for Barack Obama from Bulgaria, where he was filming.
Before that, Kilmer hadn't voted in New Mexico since he registered in 1992.
Kilmer's thoughts regarding Vietnam Vets.
Oh, sure. It's not like I believed that I shot somebody, but I absolutely know what it feels like to pull the trigger and take someone's life.
You understand how it feels to shoot someone as much as a person who has actually committed a murder?
I understand it more. It's an actor's job. A guy who's lived through the horror of Vietnam has not spent his life preparing his mind for it. He's some punk. Most guys were borderline criminal or poor, and that's why they got sent to Vietnam. It was all the poor, wretched kids who got beat up by their dads, guys who didn't get on the football team, couldn't finagle a scholarship. They didn't have the emotional equipment to handle that experience. But this is what an actor trains to do. I can more effectively represent that kid in Vietnam than a guy who was there.
