Confirmed: Clint Eastwood Is The RNC Mystery Guest

As suspected yesterday, it’s been confirmed that Clint Eastwood will be the “mystery guest” who will speak just before Senator Marco Rubio introduces Mitt Romney tonight at the Republican Convention:

(CNN) - Clint Eastwood will be the “mystery guest” at the Republican National Convention’s final night, a GOP source confirmed Thursday.

Eastwood, a longtime Republican, is expected to walk through the convention floor in the afternoon for a brief rundown of the night’s events.

The actor endorsed Romney at an Idaho fund-raiser at the beginning of August, where he told reporters beforehand he was backing the Republican presidential candidate “because I think the country needs a boost somewhere.”

He later told hundreds at the outdoor reception that Romney was “going to restore, hopefully, a decent tax system that we need badly…so that there’s a fairness and people are not pitted against one another as to who’s paying taxes and who isn’t.”

Interestingly enough, Eastwood has long described himself philosophically as “libertarian” and has endorsed legalization of same-sex marriage and taken other positions on social issues that are not exactly in step with Romney himself, or the GOP in general. No word on how long Eastwood will be speaking, but it should be interesting.

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Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Anderson says:

    Romney was “going to restore, hopefully, a decent tax system that we need badly…so that there’s a fairness and people are not pitted against one another as to who’s paying taxes and who isn’t.”

    What does that even mean? What is “indecent” about taxation under Obama that Romney could possibly be expected to redress?

  2. PJ says:

    @Anderson:

    What does that even mean? What is “indecent” about taxation under Obama that Romney could possibly be expected to redress?

    Don’t you see how the rich are paying too much and are being bled dry?

  3. C. Clavin says:

    Seriously? An actor is the suprise guest? Well at least when Eastwood lies he can call it acting. Romney and Ryan both call it talking.

  4. An Interested Party says:

    This certainly makes sense…I mean, considering this red meat crowd and who their presidential and vice presidential candidates are, they need all the imported machismo they can get…

  5. al-Ameda says:

    He IS a Republican so this is no surprise

  6. legion says:

    Interestingly enough, Eastwood has long described himself philosophically as “libertarian” and has endorsed legalization of same-sex marriage and taken other positions on social issues that are not exactly in step with Romney himself, or the GOP in general. No word on how long Eastwood will be speaking, but it should be interesting.

    Seriously – Eastwood has long taken stands that might be called more “traditional conservative”, but are highly problematic for the current base of TP’ers, etc. Either he’s had a massive change of heart on a number of basic issues, or this may generate a whole lot of fireworks… Remember when that GOP primary debate audience booed the gay soldier in Iraq? We could see something like that again…

  7. PJ says:

    Considering his films as of late, I can’t see this as a good move for Eastwood. Was he aware that he would appear at a convention looking to break the word record in lies per minute?

    Eastwood has fathered at least seven children by five different women and been described as a “serial womanizer”.

    No wonder he has issues about taxes and such, exactly how much has he had to pay in child support?

  8. Fiona says:

    Weren’t Republicans apoplectic a few months ago about the Superbowl commercial Eastwood narrated for Chrysler? If I recall correctly, they seemed to think it was a piece of pro-Obama propaganda. Now he’s going to speak at their convention? Interesting indeed.

  9. DRS says:

    Are they nuts? If Eastwood does a good job he’ll make Romney look even more stiff than he already does. Reagan nostalgia will go through the roof. Weird.

  10. J-Dub says:

    Hopefully they will play the Obama-friendly commercial he made for Chrysler before and after his appearance at the RNC. He definitely helped push Obama over the top to most likely win Michigan.

  11. A says:

    @Fiona:

    Eastwood has always not supported the bailout – said the citizens of Oceania

  12. Me Me Me says:

    As always: imagine if the Democrats made a big deal about a Hollywood player as their great big super special surprise guest.

  13. PJ says:

    @Me Me Me:
    Imagine if they elected one as President!

  14. PJ,

    I’ll put Reagan up against a former peanut farmer or a former community organizer any day. And twice on Sunday’s.

  15. Me Me Me says:

    So, Doug, you like guys who complain about big government while overseeing an unprecedented expansion in the size of government? And Ronnie’s bequest to the nation – the ever-expanding national debt – fills you with pride?

  16. Gustopher says:

    @Doug Mataconis: I don’t know about any day. A debate between Carter and Reagan today would be marred by the unearthed corpse of Reagan being propped up at the podium in some state of decay.

    If Reagan answered any questions, however, he would surely win the debate.

    “Mr. President, now that you are dead, have you reconsidered any of your pro-life stands?”

    “BRAAAAAIIINS! BRAAAAIIIINNS!”

  17. PJ says:

    I wonder if Ann Romney will raze Michelle Obama’s White House garden if Romney wins, just like how Reagan yelled on some workers to tear down the solar panels that Jimmy Carter had installed on the White House roof.

  18. C. Clavin says:

    Doug,
    Reagan grew Government astronomically, which just goes to show what a Republican you are. You are all for small Government when it is convienient…which is never when a Republican is in office.
    What a schmoe.

  19. C. Clavin,

    I didn’t say I endorsed everything Reagan did, but I would say he was a far, far better President than either Jimmy Carter or Barack Obama.

  20. J-Dub says:

    They have a celebrity, three hispanics, and a black (possibly lesbian) woman. How diverse!

  21. Vast Variety says:

    Clint Eastwood is their surprise speaker? For some reason that doesn’t excit me at all.

  22. C. Clavin says:

    @ Doug,
    Based on what exactly?
    Cutting and running from Beirut?
    Cutting deals with Saddam Hussein?
    Iran-Contra?
    Exploding the debt by 300%?
    Expanding Government exponentially?
    Supply-side economics?
    Allowing the S&L crisis to spin out of control?
    The war on the middle-class?
    The war on drugs?
    Carter is responsible for about half of the economic successes of Reagan…there was Carter’s Executive Order removing price controls on oil…and Carter appointee Volker easing up on interest rates. The rest was Reagan’s deficit spending…including his tax cuts.
    The idea that Reagan ended the cold-war is just total nonsense. Right place, right time. I guess he shoul get credit for not f’ing it up.
    If Reagan had accomplished what Obama has…as Sullivan says…his face would already be on Mt. Rushmore. He’s a Republican myth…nothing more.

  23. bill says:

    @C. Clavin: and he still makes obama and carter look bad, because they are/were. obama’s been a disaster, and it’s still not any of his fault. what a leader…..

  24. al-Ameda says:

    @bill:
    Obama ordered the mission that resulted in Bin Laden’s deat, supported the efforts that resulted in Qaddafi being ousted, took action to prevent the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs in the auto industry as the economy was in free fall – that doesn’t seem like a disaster to me. (Especially when you consider that the current political alternative (Mitt Romney) wanted Detroit to go into bankruptcy and shed the jobs.)

  25. Me Me Me says:

    Doug, I look forward to you making the case that Reagan “was a far, far better President than either Jimmy Carter or Barack Obama” in light of the factucopia that C. Clavin has poured forth.

  26. C. Clavin says:

    The Dow was 7000 something under Bush. It’s 13,000 now. Record corporate profits. 28 months of private sector job creation…in spite of Congress doing everything they can to stop it. Some disaster.

  27. An Interested Party says:

    I’ll put Reagan up against a former peanut farmer or a former community organizer any day. And twice on Sunday’s.

    Sadly for Republicans, Reagan also measures up well when compared to two different fortunate sons, one of whom made it rich by going against the principles his father believed in and another who only succeeded because of his daddy’s connections, oh, and there was that war hero who grew slightly deranged and quite pandering and desperate as he got older…no wonder there was talk of a holographic Reagan appearing at the GOP convention…

  28. Carson says:

    “Go ahead. Make my day”
    “Do you feel lucky? Well do you, punk?”

  29. LC says:

    Re Eastwood: another clear bid to energize the angry white male base of the Republican Party.

  30. Tsar Nicholas says:

    “You see in this world there’s two kinds of people, my friend. Those with loaded guns, and those who dig. You dig.”

  31. An Interested Party says:

    Poor Clint…he certainly did dig with that rambling speech and that empty chair…but probably not in the way that he or the GOP Convention planners would have hoped…

  32. Fiona says:

    I felt bad for Clint. That performance was just sad.

  33. bill says:

    @al-Ameda:
    right- he said “yes” and that’s all he needed to do.
    wrong- arab spring rolled over him with the french at the healm. the french, of all war machines….using our missiles. still, how’s libya doing these days and who cares if when gas is pushing $4 again.
    wrong- gm & chrysler needed to go into bankruptcy protection to finally get their dumb, inefficient ways fixed. figure if mercedes couldn’t make chrysler respectable then maybe it’s time to just go. now it’s an italian company, yay. gm is another piece of junk company on life support. maybe they’ll pay us back some day as their stock isn’t worth cashing in just yet.