Vice President Al Gore’s campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination got an extra push in Ames Friday, not from a politician, but from Gore supporter and actor Billy Baldwin.

Baldwin began the afternoon with a short speech at People’s Bar & Grill, 2428 Lincoln Way, before talking to Ames firefighters at the Welch Avenue fire station.

In his speech at People’s, Baldwin spoke about his activity in politics and encouraged college students to become politically active.

“I’ve been a political activist my whole life,” Baldwin told a full crowd at People’s.

Baldwin said he participated in state politics in college before working on Capitol Hill for Gore associate and former U.S. Rep. Tom Downey of New York. He said Downey introduced him to former Rep. Gore 20 years ago.

“I struck up a friendship with [Gore] then that has lasted 15, 20 years now,” he said.

Baldwin also said he is the president of the Creative Coalition, a group of Hollywood writers, directors, producers and actors who are politically active in issues such as campaign finance reform, First Amendment rights and public education.

Baldwin said he has worked on many campaigns, and he recently did college campus tours in New York and California.

“I think a lot of things going on in this country right now, a lot of things going on in the economy are great,” he said. “We’re well on our way, but we have a long way to go.”

Baldwin said because today’s college students are the first adult generation to enter the new millennium, they have a responsibility to get involved in politics.

“There’s a lot at stake, in regard to the economy, in regard to education, in regard to the environment, in regard to a lot of issues that are important to young people,” he said. “It’s the year 2000, and just in my short lifetime, just in the last 10 or 15 or 20 years, so much has radically changed.”

Baldwin encouraged college students to take part in political advocacy groups. “It does matter. You can make a difference,” he said.

Paxton Williams, senior in political science and former president of ISU Democrats, said Baldwin’s visit was to show students that politics is for everybody.

“Baldwin’s visit shows that politics is not all formal,” said Williams, a Gore supporter. “It’s open to everyone. Baldwin’s visit was to add more fire to the students and encourage the already large masses of students supporting the vice president.”

Dan Brower, senior in political science and member of Cyclones for Gore, also thought Baldwin’s visit was a good way to get students more interested in politics.

“I think this is a great idea, tying in politics and the entertainment industry, because people are more interested normally in movies than they are in voting and politics in general,” he said.

Baldwin said his celebrity status has given him more of a chance to make an impact in political advocacy.

“[Becoming a celebrity] made me sort of a hotter prospect in terms of political advocacy,” he said.

However, he said sometimes speaking to students still does not have the impact he would like it to have.

“When you get together with a group of young college students, they don’t take it as seriously as you would want them to,” he said.

After the speech at People’s, Baldwin walked up the street to chat with Ames firefighters and pose for photographs.

Baldwin said he visited the fire station because the national firefighters’ union endorsed Gore, and because he starred in the 1991 movie “Backdraft,” which was about firefighters.

“That film had a pretty big impact with firefighters,” Baldwin said. “They came off looking as heroic and respectful, as they deserve to be.”

“It was a great opportunity for the Ames firefighters to meet one of the actors in a recent Hollywood film that was about firefighters,” said Ames Deputy Fire Chief Russ Scott.