Matt Damon’s politics have gotten a lot of attention over the past few months – mostly because he’s been very vocal in his extreme dislike for Sarah Palin, saying the idea of her candidacy is, “absurd… like a bad Disney movie.” Damon took a some heat not necessarily for his opinions but for being so harsh in his phrasing – though he certainly wasn’t the only one to do so.

It seems like he’s relaxed a bit on politics, as he recently said he was honored to have his name dropped by Joe the Plummer.

Matt Damon says he was thrilled presidential campaign star “Joe the Plumber” dropped his named in an interview. The plumber, whose real name is Samuel Wurzelbacher, became an overnight media hit after he was referred to at least 23 times by Barack Obama and John McCain in the final presidential debate.

Speaking to the press from his Ohio home Wurzelbacher, a Republican, said he hoped he wouldn’t make a fool of himself with all the attention: “I don’t have a lot of pull. It’s not like I’m Matt Damon.”

“That was a surprise. I hadn’t heard that Joe the Plumber dropped my name,” Damon tells The Associated Press. “I’m honored to be in the little passion play, to be an extra.”

As the election nears, Damon says he will remain committed to the Obama campaign. “I’ll do telephone interviews or whatever they’ll have me do,” he said. “I want to sprint to the finish with the millions of us who really have been desperate for this change.” The actor – who once called Sarah Palin a “really scary thing” – declined to comment on the Republican ticket. Said Damon, “The Obama campaign has decided to focus on the positive, and I should be a bigger man and be able to do that with them.”

[From Us Weekly]

Right after his original comments about Palin, Matt and Wyclef Jean went to Haiti to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. It definitely helped smooth over his possible PR issue.

Interestingly, a longtime Republican and McCain advisor has announced that he’s voted for Obama. His reason? Sarah Palin.

Charles Fried, a professor at Harvard Law School, has long been one of the most important conservative thinkers in the United States. Under President Reagan, he served, with great distinction, as Solicitor General of the United States. Since then, he has been prominently associated with several Republican leaders and candidates, most recently John McCain, for whom he expressed his enthusiastic support in January.

This week, Fried announced that he has voted for Obama-Biden by absentee ballot. In his letter to Trevor Potter, the General Counsel to the McCain-Palin campaign, he asked that his name be removed from the several campaign-related committees on which he serves. In that letter, he said that chief among the reasons for his decision “is the choice of Sarah Palin at a time of deep national crisis.”

[From the Huffington Post]

Sounds like even some of those with a long history in politics think that Matt Damon had a legitimate point after all.

Here’s Matt Damon at ONEXONE children’s charity in San Francisco today. Images thanks to WENN.