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    Chrysler Super Bowl commercial: Is Clint Eastwood a Democrat?

    Clint Eastwood gave a rasping, powerful performance in a Chrysler Super Bowl commercial. But some saw a political message that favored Democrats.

    By David Grant | Christian Science Monitor – Mon, Feb 6, 2012

    Clint Eastwood’s Super Bowl commercial for Chrysler was, amid a sea of retread themes and less-than-inspiring plots (you’re so much better than this, Doritos) pretty awesome.

    If you didn’t see the two-minute ad yet, it ran during halftime of last night’s Super Bowl and featured a darkened Clint Eastwood rasping that it’s “halftime in America. People are out of work and they’re hurting. And are all wondering what they’re going to do to make a comeback.”

    “All that matters now,” Eastwood says in one particularly memorable line, “is what’s ahead. How do we come from behind? How do we come together? And how do we win? Detroit’s showing us it can be done.”

    The ad’s political overtones were obvious - Detroit got back on its feet after being bailed out by the federal government, something Barack Obama instituted and something Mitt Romney opposed.

    White House Communication Director Dan Pfeiffer tweeted almost immediately afterward, leading ESPN hoops super analyst Seth Davis to query Pfeiffer about the spot:

    Dan Pfeiffer @pfeiffer44    5 Feb 12

    Saving the America Auto Industry: Something Eminem and Clint Eastwood can agree on

    Seth Davis @SethDavisHoops

    @pfeiffer44 Did Clint just cut a re-elect spot for your boss?

    Of course, Pfeiffer was referring to last year’s totally awesome Chrysler ad featuring Eminem and iconic scenes from Detroit.

    Obama strategist David Axelrod was likewise fired up, and tweeted:

    David Axelrod @davidaxelrod

    Powerful spot. Did Clint shoot that, or just narrate it?

    The Obama campaign has denied having anything to do with the ad and Chrysler has said “the ad speaks for itself” in this Reuters piece.

    While Eminem said he would vote for Obama, Eastwood - one of the most iconic tough guys of the silver screen - is a little more complex.

    But what are Clint Eastwood’s politics? That’s a bit more complex. Eastwood - unlike fellow Hollywood testosterone posterboy Charlton Heston, a staunch Republican - has a mixed history. He’s supported gay marriage and voted for former Democratic California Gov. Gray Davis, for example, but supported Arizona Sen. John McCain (R) in the 2008 election.

    When Eastwood ran for mayor of what might be called a “1% hamlet” of Carmel-by-the-sea, California, he was elected as a Republican. And that was good enough for President George H.W. Bush to consider him as a potential vice presidential pick - yes, you read that right - during his ultimately unsuccessful 1992 reelection campaign.

    In other words, the simplest answer to the question of Clint Eastwood’s current political persuasion is probably the best: he got paid by Chrysler, a deeply red-blooded American company, and did the spot.

    But that hardly seems to matter, given the hard-hitting commercial and its deeply political subject. As National Journal’s George Condon writes, “All that was missing was him turning to Mitt Romney and challenging him to ‘make my day.’"

    Like your politics unscrambled? Bookmark DCDecoder.com

     

    56 comments

    • Ward Lafrance
      Ward Lafrance  •  Houston, Texas  •  3 mths ago
      I didn't know being Pro-American got you a label, other than being a Patriot.....
      • Bagpipes Johnson
        Bagpipes Johnson 3 mths ago
        It comes down to who produces the message and how desperate the opposition is to spin it.
    • Bill
      Bill  •  3 mths ago
      Anyone who says anything positive about the American People's resilience and optimism these days is labeled a Democrat? Sounds about right to me.
      Must be sad to be a Republican, though...
      • James
        James 3 mths ago
        Lol... You beat me too it! That's almost exactly what I was going to say.
    • No Name
      No Name  •  St Louis, Missouri  •  3 mths ago
      Would be nice if morons would quit trying to make everything political.
    • jorgen
      jorgen  •  3 mths ago
      I've had this hope for the last month that Clint Eastwood would endorse Ron Paul. Clint has been a libertarian leaning republican since the early 1950s, and in 2008 he talked in an interview about the need to balance federal budget and preserve liberties.
      • jorgen
        jorgen 3 mths ago
        I don't see the ad a PRO-Obama though. What Clint Eastwood says i s clearly that he admires the American spirit and its entrepreneurship and its ability to rise from the dust.
      • Phil
        Phil 3 mths ago
        Entrepreneurs had nothing to do with saving the auto industry. They're the ones who brought it to the point of bankruptcy..
      • whynot
        whynot 3 mths ago
        Now Eastwood is pro-fascism
    • psionycx
      psionycx  •  3 mths ago
      Obama picked up the bailout effort that was already underway during the end of Bush's second term. It was not as if he introduced it as new policy.

      However, it seems very interesting these days the way that many conservatives seem to define "patriotism" as supporting the right of the private sector to steadily dismantle America's economy in favor of overseas interests.
    • mike albury
      mike albury  •  3 mths ago
      clint eastwood is a republican....BUT not their obedient lap-dog,
    • Benjamin
      Benjamin  •  3 mths ago
      You people thinking this is political are braindead idiots. By your logic if my ballsack hangs to the left does this make me a democrat?
    • jerry
      jerry  •  Tampa, Florida  •  3 mths ago
      Clint is more intelligent than that ... he knew what he was doing with this ... slightly subtle and definitely all American ... he is just pro motor city , pro American and pro American products ... but with his response maybe he should go back into politics ...it definitely has a political message .... i love the man though
    • dredd
      dredd  •  Ferndale, Washington  •  3 mths ago
      Blame Bush he started the bail out and said he would do it again.lol
    • edw
      edw  •  Mountain Home, Arkansas  •  3 mths ago
      When did Michigan leave the United States? I see we're importing cars from there now. I thought Fiats came from Italy.
    • johnathon c
      johnathon c  •  Memphis, Tennessee  •  3 mths ago
      im so tired of hearing about this its just a commercial get over it
    • Pat
      Pat  •  Des Moines, Iowa  •  3 mths ago
      Its a TV commercial.... but I knew this would be the buzz. Sad.
    • John S
      John S  •  3 mths ago
      "he got paid by Chrysler, a deeply red-blooded American company"

      Hey David Grant, you hear yet that Fiat runs Chrysler?
    • JAMES D
      JAMES D  •  Fargo, North Dakota  •  3 mths ago
      OR is this just the media slanting things (AGAIN) to fit there needs. To get a story that isn't there.
    • P
      P  •  3 mths ago
      Helloooo? It was a commercial for a car company. Script written for Eastwood. Must have paid big bucks to grab him for an ad spot.
    • Concerned American
      Concerned American  •  3 mths ago
      He is a former Republican mayor but he says since the Republicans have screwed uo so badly he is leaning Libertarian. I guess that is a win for Ron Paul.
    • John Small
      John Small  •  3 mths ago
      Speaking as a lifelong Democrat, I say Eastwood's personal politics doesn't matter. He was speaking as an AMERICAN and saying something that idiots on BOTH sides of the partisan aisle needed to hear. I applaud him for that and hope others take the comments to heart.
    • FlBiker
      FlBiker  •  Orlando, Florida  •  3 mths ago
      Chrysler's are usually assembled in Mexico or Canada from shoddy Chinese parts, truly pieces of crap.
    • Joe
      Joe  •  Richardson, Texas  •  3 mths ago
      "What the HELL are people doing making this political? I'm a proud conservative, and I watched an American icon giving the country a pep talk about our future, reminding us of our past triumphs over adversity, and assuring us there is a light at the end of the tunnel. That's it. I wasn't aware loving this country meant you needed to be labeled as something other than "Patriot".
    • Matthew Viramontes
      Matthew Viramontes  •  3 mths ago
      People are looking too much into this Ad
     Post a comment
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