Wag the Moose

Everybody loves Raymond so much that he's considering running for office. Variety reports that Ray Romano is in talks to star in ''Mooseport,'' a comedy in which he'd play a small-town hardware store owner who runs for mayor. His opponent: the former president of the United States, who's moved to the town to retire but finds himself drafted into campaigning again. He'd be played by Dustin Hoffman.

Political satires seldom do well, though at least Hoffman has a track record there (''Wag the Dog''), and director Rod Lurie certainly knows presidential politics (this would be his third presidential movie, after ''Deterrence'' and ''The Contender''). Screenwriter Tom Schulman is best known for ''Dead Poets Society,'' though his resume also includes such attempted comedies as ''8 Heads in a Duffel Bag'' and ''Holy Man.'' Still, the movie doesn't have to make a huge profit, since the budget (according to Variety) is only $30 million -- making it one of the cheapest political campaigns in recent memory.

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