Well, last night at the RNC convention there was a barely contained feeling of excitement and anticipation as Mitt Romney was set to take the stage. Could he do it? And by it, we mean, make himself likeable, human, and alluring enough that not only the base could finally throw all their support behind the former governor and forever Olympics cheerleader, but for swing voters and independents to see the man behind his monotone words and connect with him on a real level?
It could have been a night for all that to happen, but there was a scene stealer in their midst, unbeknownst to the Romney team. And this scene stealer would bring on a wave of confusion and befuddlement that we’ve never seen the likes of at such a high profile political event. Enter Clint Eastwood.
Oh, oh, Clint.
Before we get to what occurred, let’s consider “Why Clint?” in the first place. You see, it seems that since the Republicans have heard time and again about Obama’s appeal with Hollywood, due to his copious supporters there, the fundraisers, and the celebs willing to campaign, work with, and speak out for the Obama administration — for which you’ll recall landed Obama in the cross hairs of the GOP mantra that he was too much of a celebrity to lead — what we now realize is that the GOP was a bit envious of this star power. Why? Well, because Hollywood means popularity and that little bit of cool that appeals to more than walnut throwing racists who flock to their rallies and speeches. There is something to be said for the celebrity elite — the George Clooneys, the Anna Wintours, the Antonio Banderases and Eva Longorias. These people are influential and have money and star power to share while backing their candidate, plus they make headlines. Mitt’s billionaire donors are mostly seen as a bunch of dusty, mirthless, uninteresting statues looking down from their ivory towers.
So, how do you solve a problem like celebrity?
Well, you consider your options and get an octogenarian, conservative/libertarian who’s been outspoken enough to say publicly:
“These people who are making a big deal about gay marriage?” Eastwood tells GQ magazine. “I don’t give a fuck about who wants to get married to anybody else! Why not?! We’re making a big deal out of things we shouldn’t be making a deal out of … Just give everybody the chance to have the life they want.”
Oh, ho! This is in addition to his interesting support (sort of) of the auto industry bailout in his “Halftime in America” ad which sent Conservatives reeling after he announced that he had no affiliation with the current presidential administration – or any politician or party for that matter. So from this we can assume Clint was a clincher for the RNC convention. It just seemed like a natural fit, surely. A guy who likes to push the envelope with no real allegiance to any one party; who acts on his gut instinct and is known for doing things his way, cowboy style. Yep, let’s mix that with a strictly choreographed convention that could make or break the way non-Romney supporters see him in his one opportunity to turn on the charm and convince the country that he’s the right man to lead the country.
For whatever reason, Romney’s people must have been pretty confident that Clint was going to get up on that stage and deliver an introduction that would finally give them the mix of star power, unconditional backing, fawning appreciation, and stark differences to the incumbent’s administration complete with facts, finesse, a few shouts of “Make My Day” and all around sage advice. What they received was a very old man going off-script, off-message, and seemingly deep into the recesses of his own unanswerable psyche when he decided the best way to illustrate all of the above was to invent a rambling, laden with supposed foul-mouthed invectives and thoroughly imaginary conversation with a chair. And don’t forget, sprinkled in were some inaccuracies about the President’s record, the unemployment rate in the country, and a lambasting of lawyers as presidents even though both Obama and Mitt Romney are Harvard educated lawyers. It was bizarre and telling to say the least.
One of the most poignant comments was about rich, old white men conservatives, all wanting to dress down the black man in office as he sits and is scolded like a petulant child. The whole thing came off as out of touch, out of sync, and completely baffling for the final hour of a political convention and lead-in to the candidate’s highly anticipated speech. Short of Eastwood fully admitting that he was tripping balls, there isn’t anything stranger that could have sullied the moment and become the biggest talking point of the entire night. So, sorry, Mitt. You’re no match for Shady Pines performance art. The Romney team was embarrassed, and so was Hollywood. Roger Ebert via twitter said:
Clint, my hero, is coming across as sad and pathetic. He didn’t need to do this to himself. It’s unworthy of him.
True. But this was completely the fault of Romney’s team and the RNC. How well was Eastwood vetted? How did this act of his get through? Romney wanted to approve Ron Paul’s speech, but yet, Eastwood gets someone to bring him an empty chair and says he’s not using a teleprompter, and you don’t ask why? All for the sake of making Mitt Romney seem like someone you’d like to hang out with and not someone who’d fire you and give you a “Now that you’re laid off…” employee packet?
Was it really worth it? You know, having a convention where the highlights and the lowlights were a litany of lies told by your running mate and a wild-haired Hollywood smart-ass trusted to hand deliver Romney to America in some bizarro scenario where Paul Ryan looks at his future and sees Clint Eastwood talking to a chair?
You guys are great. No, seriously, learn from this. Vet everyone, just everyone, or don’t. No matter, today the Democrats are all dancing on top of their, uh, chairs.
