Clint Eastwood’s “Talk” at the RNC: He Did Exactly What He Intended

The Carmel Pine Cone does the first interview with Clint Eastwood spoke at the Republican National Convention. His appearance was panned by the lamestream media as “bizarre”, “rambling”, and “weird”. Eastwood, however, makes it plain that he accomplished his task.

“I had three points I wanted to make,” Eastwood said. “That not everybody in Hollywood is on the left, that Obama has broken a lot of the promises he made when he took office, and that the people should feel free to get rid of any politician who’s not doing a good job.

But I didn’t make up my mind exactly what I was going to say until I said it.”Eastwood’s appearance at the convention came after a personal request from Romney in August, soon after Eastwood endorsed the former Massachusetts governor at a fundraiser in Sun Valley, Idaho.

But it was finalized only in the last week before the convention, along with an agreement to build suspense by keeping it secret until the last moment. Meanwhile, Romney’s campaign aides asked for details about what Eastwood would say to the convention. “They vett (sic) most of the people, but I told them, ‘You can’t do that with me, because I don’t know what I’m going to say,’” Eastwood recalled.

And while the Hollywood superstar has plenty of experience being adored by crowds, he said he hasn’t given a lot of speeches and admitted that, “I really don’t know how to.” He also hates using a teleprompter, so it was settled in his mind that when he spoke to the 10,000 people in the convention hall, and the millions more watching on television, he would do it extemporaneously.“It was supposed to be a contrast with all the scripted speeches, because I’m Joe Citizen,” Eastwood said. “I’m a movie maker, but I have the same feelings as the average guy out there.”

Eastwood is a liberal on social issues such as gay marriage and abortion, but he has strongly conservative opinions about the colossal national debt that has accumulated while Obama has been president, his failure to get unemployment below 6 percent, and a host of other economic issues. “Even people on the liberal side are starting to worry about going off a fiscal cliff,” Eastwood said.

I look at it this way: how many lines or themes do you remember from Ryan’s speech? How about Romney’s, or Obama’s? Lots of people remember “sometimes when a guy isn’t getting the job done, you have to let him go” and the empty chair thing had its own day this week.

Read the rest at The Carmel Pine Cones first story of the week.