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"Ben Affleck took time out of his holiday plans Monday to clear up a rumor: he&amp;apos;s not running for Senate.\r\n\r\n&amp;quot;I love Massachusetts and our political process, but I am not running for office,&amp;quot; Affleck, 40, wrote on his Facebook page Dec. 24. &amp;quot;Right now it&amp;apos;s a privilege to spend my time working with Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI), supporting our veterans, drawing attention to the great many who go hungry in the U.S. everyday and using filmmaking to entertain and foster discussion about issues like our relationship to Iran.&amp;quot;\r\n&amp;quot;We are about to get a great Secretary of State and there are some phenomenal candidates in Massachusetts for his Senate seat,&amp;quot; he added. &amp;quot;I look forward to an amazing campaign.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nDuring an interview on CBS&amp;apos; Face the Nation last week, Affleck played coy about the possibility he could run for John Kerry&amp;apos;s Senate seat. &amp;quot;Well, one never knows. I&amp;apos;m not one to get into conjecture,&amp;quot; the Argo director said. &amp;quot;I do have a great fondness and admiration for the political process in this country, but I&amp;apos;m not going to get into speculation about my political future.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nThe husband of Jennifer Garner and father of three jokingly added, &amp;quot;I&amp;apos;ve got a lot on my plate.&amp;quot;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/ben-affleck-i-am-not-running-for-office-20122512>