Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Clint Eastwood Responds

Clint Eastwood, the narrator of the “It’s Halftime in America” Super Bowl ad for Chrysler issued a brief response to the criticism from pearl-clutching Republicans that the ad was politically motivated:

Go ahead. Make my day.

Well, not really.

In an e-mail, Mr. Eastwood said politics were not in the equation. “The ad doesn’t have a political message,” he said. “It is about American spirit, pride and job growth.” Mr. Eastwood, a former mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif., who usually voted Republican, has acknowledged recently having a political change of heart.

It’s amusing that Karl Rove — the ultimate political hack that ran the Bush campaign from the West Wing — is “offended.” Oh, really?

I have a feeling that this one ad will have a big impact on the presidential election, even though it wasn’t overtly political. It will be interesting to hear how the Republicans and Mitt Romney, the candidate who wanted to let Detroit go bankrupt, could come back to the idea that America is coming back.

And if we’re going to talk about a message from the Super Bowl, it’s better that we’re talking about the restoration of the auto industry than Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction.”