The Clint Eastwood Gambit Worked Perfectly, But Not in the Way People Think

When I saw the Clint Eastwood speech yesterday, an image formed in my mind:

For those too young to remember that is Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In and John Wayne in that bunny suit. That’s the last time I saw something this Ayptical from a Hollywood icon.

I thought Eastwood’s presentation was one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen, somebody said on TV it was a variation of an old Morry Amsterdam bit (Eastwood is certainly old enough to remember Amsterdam) but that might just have been a bad joke.

Nevertheless I submit that the Clint Eastwood bit worked absolutely perfectly for the GOP in general and Mitt Romney in particular. Here is why:

1. The Presence:

A lot of people who normally wouldn’t have tuned into the RNC yesterday tuned in to see Eastwood.

2. The oddity of it:

If it was a regular “Make my Day” speech they would have changed the channel when it was done, this was so odd that I suspect people kept the TV there just to see what people might say about it or if there was any odd reaction.

3. The memorable lines:

Because Eastwood bit was so odd, the memorable lines “Politicians are employees of ours”, “When somebody does not do the job, you gotta let ‘em go.” stood out and will be remembered.

4. The lead-in:

Those folks who stayed looking for Eastwood reactions who normally would have gone caught Marco Rubio, who hit it out of the park for Romney and he gave a speech that would hold them.

5. The Comparison:

The Mitt Romney speech contrasted to the Eastwood bit was a smashing success.

6. Drawing their fire:

Take a look at this image from Memeorandum as of 8:31 AM

And here is the stuff on the Romney speech same page:

What is Missing? Attacks on Romney’s speech! Today was the day that the Democrats should be hitting Romney’s speech and trying to counter it a-la Ryan. Instead the readers of the Morning papers, Cable TV and the left blogs are reading attacks on Eastwood. Clint Eastwood is playing the same role as a hero in an old western, drawing all the fire so the good guy could escape unharmed.

7. Picking on an old man:

The left has been particularly strong hitting Clint Eastwood, Here are three images from Twitchy

Not only is it not smart to hit an American Icon, what do you think the reaction of the elderly voters who always show up will be to the “pick on the old guy” bit? I suspect it won’t play well at all.

For tall these reasons Clint Eastwood appearance at the RNC made my day and I suspect it made the Romney campaign’s day too.

Cross-Posted from Datechguy’s Blog