Ben Affleck's Next Role: Senator?

(CBS/AP)  For Ben Affleck, the closest role he's had to senator so far was his part as CIA agent Jack Ryan in Tom Clancy's spy thriller "The Sum of all Fears."

But the Washington Post reports some want Affleck to say goodbye to the Hollywood Hills and hello to Capital Hill as the Democratic senator from Virginia.

Post columnist Amy Argetsinger says Virginia Democrats are desperately seeking a big name to take on rising Republican star Sen. George Allen next year.

"They need someone who is smart and photogenic and has a lot of his own money to subsidize a campaign. It just so happens that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner have been looking for real estate in Charlottesville," Argetsinger tells CBS affiliate WUSA.

University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato tells the Post the Affleck speculation is "spread pretty widely, at least in the political underground."

Democratic Gov. Mark Warner, who at one point had been mentioned as a potential Senate candidate but is now seen as a possible 2008 presidential contender, says he welcomes the Afflecks as new residents, but won't say much more.

"If he moves to Virginia and wants to get involved politically, he has a major name but that's not somebody I think there's an active recruitment going on with," says Warner.

Affleck has never held public office but was prominent at last year's Democratic National Convention. And he certainly wouldn't be the first actor to turn to politics. President Reagan and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have both made that same career move.

Affleck's spokesman Ken Sunshine says there's no truth to the rumors, but says Affleck "would be a superb candidate for public office in the future. Right now, he's very busy directing his first feature movie for Disney, 'Gone, Baby, Gone.'"