# Clint Eastwood voting for Romney **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 5, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clint-eastwood-voting-for-romney/630469 "2012-08-05T00:49:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clint-eastwood-voting-for-romney/630469/101 "2012-08-31T09:08:13Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > Does he think bringing back the Cold War will be good for America? No, he thinks it’s be good for the GOP. Sainted Ronnie is the demented spectre that hangs over such statements. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clint-eastwood-voting-for-romney/630469/102 "2012-08-31T09:55:44Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > “Clint is on the shortlist for Secretary of Defense” is highly unlikely, and a quick google search didn’t up turn up a thing. The man is 82 years old, has no military experience, and no foreign policy experience. It’s also very premature for Romney to be announcing any potential cabinet picks, and I haven’t heard him even talk about it, let alone release a ‘short list’. That you didn’t get what a ludicrous, collosally absurd joke-line this is, after that performance disqualifying Eastwood from any role other than Secretary of Dementia in a Romney administration, perhaps is more telling of your cluelessness than it is of Clint’s or even Mitt’s. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clint-eastwood-voting-for-romney/630469/103 "2012-08-31T11:14:51Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > In addition, there was Mia Love, a rising star in the Republican party, Artur Davis, Governor Nikki Haley, Governor Martinez, Governor Brian Sandoval, Governor Luis Fortino… Are they all ‘tokens’? The Republican Party is defined by who is in front of the lectern, not who is behind it. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clint-eastwood-voting-for-romney/630469/104 "2012-08-31T11:16:55Z")
I’m a big fan of Clint Eastwood. Last night just made me really sad. ---
**Author:** ![NineLineMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9e8a1a/32.png) [@NineLineMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineLineMan)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clint-eastwood-voting-for-romney/630469/105 "2012-08-31T11:20:03Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > Lawyer jokes - ah that’s fresh! :rolleyes: And odd since Romney is a lawyer. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clint-eastwood-voting-for-romney/630469/106 "2012-08-31T11:26:30Z")
> [@NineLineMan](#): > > And odd since Romney is a lawyer. Shhhh! Romney’s NOT a lawyer. Also, NOT a former CEO of Bain Capital. NOT a Massachusetts Governor, too. NOT a Mormon. NOT a rich clueless dude. But mostly NOT Obama. And mostly NOT black. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clint-eastwood-voting-for-romney/630469/107 "2012-08-31T11:32:00Z")
Love Sharpton’s line that last night wasn’t the first time Eastwood talked to an empty chair. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clint-eastwood-voting-for-romney/630469/108 "2012-08-31T11:37:35Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > ‘Token’ minorities? You just named the former chair of the RNC, a U.S. Senator and one of the most popular Republicans in the U.S., and the former Secretary of State. > > In addition, there was Mia Love, a rising star in the Republican party, Artur Davis, Governor Nikki Haley, Governor Martinez, Governor Brian Sandoval, Governor Luis Fortino… Are they all ‘tokens’? If you honestly think that, I think it says more about you than about Republicans, because these are all powerful people who have risen to the top of the Republican party. > > I’ll give you a pass on not knowing all this if you got your coverage from MSNBC, because they conveniently cut away from the live convention coverage almost every time a minority Republican spoke. Doesn’t fit the narrative. Is there another MSNBC than the one I was watching? ‘Cause, just sticking to the limited period I had them on, they ran the complete speeches of Haley, Martinez, Steele, and Rice live; they did a lengthy post-speech Q & A with Rice, and had Steele on as a panel guest, fer cryin’ out loud. I guess these facts don’t fit _your_ narrative, eh? Anyway, calling 'em ‘tokens’ is a bit much, IMO, but looking at the sea of white faces that made up the RNC crowd, one might be forgiven a touch of hyperbole. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clint-eastwood-voting-for-romney/630469/109 "2012-08-31T11:42:30Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Shhhh! > > NOT a Massachusetts Governor, too. No, much worse: a “Massachusetts Moderate”. Apparently several of his opponents during the primaries agreed that that was a Very Bad Thing, ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clint-eastwood-voting-for-romney/630469/110 "2012-08-31T11:45:38Z")
They’re going to be fairly characterized as tokens because the Republicans are the lily-white party–they don’t speak for minorities, they don’t attract minorities, they don’t care for minorities. They DO promote those few minority members they have, to distract from the plain truth that they don’t give a shit about minorities, except insofar as the minorities are willing to value the individual over his/her ethnicity, of whom there will always be a few oddballs and outliers (Michael Steele, the ultimate in token black Republicans). And they will always be a sham, until such time as the party attracts a significant proportion of the actual minority voters. Which won’t be any time soon, btw. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clint-eastwood-voting-for-romney/630469/111 "2012-08-31T12:59:38Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I suspect the problem was that Eastwood is such a powerful figure and they thought he was such a ‘coup’ that they simply didn’t vet him and let him say what he wanted. They probably expected him to be better than he was. Mark Halperin (I believe) said that Eastwood gave a real classic Eastwood-esque speech the night he endorsed Romney a week or two back. The campaign was expecting more of the same, not an old man arguing with a chair. Ah, here we go… > [@](#): > > Convention planners had assumed the Hollywood legend would reprise the powerful and typically gruff/charming performance he delivered at the beginning of August when he showed up out of the blue at a Romney fundraiser in Idaho and said he was backing the Republican. > > Romney aides played down the impact Eastwood’s odd turn might have on Tampa’s positive impact, but they acknowledge that the empty-chair monologue came as a complete surprise to them. They simply turned the podium over to an iconic superstar and expected him to stand and deliver. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clint-eastwood-voting-for-romney/630469/112 "2012-08-31T13:08:48Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > The campaign was expecting more of the same, not an old man arguing with a chair. And what about Naomi? ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clint-eastwood-voting-for-romney/630469/113 "2012-08-31T13:11:28Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > In addition, there was Mia Love, a rising star in the Republican party, Artur Davis, Governor Nikki Haley, Governor Martinez, Governor Brian Sandoval, Governor Luis Fortino… Are they all ‘tokens’? If you honestly think that, I think it says more about you than about Republicans, because these are all powerful people who have risen to the top of the Republican party. > > I’ll give you a pass on not knowing all this if you got your coverage from MSNBC, because they conveniently cut away from the live convention coverage almost every time a minority Republican spoke. Doesn’t fit the narrative. I watched a lot of the Convention coverage on MSNBC. They never cut away from any speech that I saw. I’ll give you a pass on not knowing this since who knows where you get these things. FWIW, they often praised the speeches. FWIW, this was not Ed Schultz, Rachel Maddow or Chris Matthews show. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clint-eastwood-voting-for-romney/630469/114 "2012-08-31T13:25:34Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I’ll give you a pass on not knowing all this if you got your coverage from MSNBC, because they conveniently cut away from the live convention coverage almost every time a minority Republican spoke. Doesn’t fit the narrative. This is not true. I saw the above mentioned people on MSNBC. I would suggest that the Republicans elevate anyone of color they can find that’s stupid enough to support their policies. Since it allows them to point at those people and say, “See, we aren’t a party of old, white racists!” ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clint-eastwood-voting-for-romney/630469/115 "2012-08-31T13:27:48Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > Well, that speech was certainly… something… I’m not sure it was particularly helpful for the Romney campaign. Word to that! I laughed my ass off, and then again when the network commentators reacted, like “okaaayyyy…”. RomneyCo obviously thought this would be a home run, kicking off the network hour of coverage with a stemwinder from a popular movie hero (and I was a bit worried myself). But now they have to be kicking themselves. Not a good way to frame things, to make them look like the serious alternative to hand the keys to. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clint-eastwood-voting-for-romney/630469/116 "2012-08-31T13:53:20Z")
> [@](#): > > …Where did you hear that? It sounds highly unlikely, and a quick google search didn’t turn up a thing. The man is 82 years old, has no military experience, and no foreign policy experience. It’s also very premature for Romney to be announcing any potential cabinet picks, and I haven’t heard him even talk about it, let alone release a ‘short list’. And the priest, the rabbi, and the minister who walk into the bar? Isn’t that a rather unlikely combination of religious persuasions to be drinking together? ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clint-eastwood-voting-for-romney/630469/117 "2012-08-31T14:13:07Z")
Michael Steele is _not_ being trotted out as a token minority - because he wasn’t even invited to the convention. He’s essentially _non grata_ in the GOP these days. He mentioned it on Jon Stewart last night. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clint-eastwood-voting-for-romney/630469/118 "2012-08-31T14:48:59Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > There’s two kinds of people watching, people like them, who watch because they already believe, and people like me, who watch because _Mystery Science Theate_r isn’t on the air any more. Hey, can we fellow snarkers come over to your place next time? I’ll bring a six pack or some Fritos or whatever… ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clint-eastwood-voting-for-romney/630469/119 "2012-08-31T14:52:44Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Michael Steele is _not_ being trotted out as a token minority And only Rice from the last Republican administration, whose historically-epic and almost-unmitigated failness they wish would be forgotten, is being given any role at all. Some even tout her for the ticket, despite everything she was responsible for. Would it be inappropriate to suggest they consider her demographic aspects to outweigh her incompetence aspects? ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clint-eastwood-voting-for-romney/630469/120 "2012-08-31T15:06:08Z")
And Mia Love is going to get trounced in November, she’s losing by 17 in the latest polls - rising star my ass. But none of that really matters. Obviously the GOP is _trying_ to reach out to minorities. They have no choice. Romney needs 60%+ of the white vote this year to win, and it’s going to get even worse in the future if they don’t get their non-white vote share up above 30%. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clint-eastwood-voting-for-romney/630469.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clint-eastwood-voting-for-romney/630469.md?page=7)