Cusack for President!

The affable actor, who ascended from '80s teen-angst icon to major movie star in such films as Better Off Dead, Say Anything, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity and the current hit America's Sweethearts--is at the center of an unlikely presidential campaign.

Unbeknownst to Cusack, a group of Democrats has launched a lighthearted Net-based effort to put the actor in the White House.

"John Cusack's an Everyman for both men and women," says Dan Carol, cofounder of www.junction-city.com (the Web home of the Cusack campaign) and strategist with the political consulting firm CTSG.com. "People like him, they like his movies, and he's got many of our views and the thought of drafting him for president was a natural."

Compared to other D.C. types, Cusack's got some solid credentials. After all, he's played a vice president (Nelson Rockefeller in The Cradle Will Rock) and a power-hungry, rule-bending young politico (True Colors), not to mention a scam artist in The Grifters. Sounds perfect.

Political consultants on the Cusack Presidential Campaign also point to the thespian's strong leadership skills in the face of adversity ("he made the tough decisions in Grosse Pointe Blank), his moral fiber ("he couldn't be bought in Eight Men Out"), his belief in himself ("he's cooler than John Malkovich") and his political stripes ("we like his politics so far") as prez-worthy.

And the group's slogan? How about a riff on a classic Cusackian line: "He's looking for a dare-to-be-great situation."

Carol and company have yet to hear from candidate Cusack and don't plan on contacting him about his run for the Oval Office--at least not yet. "Until we get a level of grass-roots support, 10,000 or more supporters, we won't deign to bother him," says Carol.

Since the site's launch in February about 1,700 people have thrown their support behind a Cusack presidential run, which, Carol says, is "way more than Senator Joseph Lieberman!"

Cusack, who's made a career out of playing lovable losers and romantic underachievers, had no comment on the tongue-in-cheek campaign--his publicist says the actor "is on vacation and is unreachable."

But, adds the rep, "It is a funny idea, but we think humor in politics is a good thing."

And if the John Cusack-for-President thing flops, the campaigners have a backup plan: the actor's older sister, Joan, the Oscar-nominated star of Working Girl In & Out, who currently has an eponymous sitcom on ABC.

"We love Joan too, but John's got a bit more of a following," says Carol.

Joan's rep didn't return calls for comment. Stonewalling the press already, huh? She's got this politics thing down pretty good.