Clint Eastwood's Super Bowl ad for Chrysler has taken on a life of its own, post-game. In the cinematic "Halftime in America," the Oscar-winning actor/director talked about America bouncing back from hard times.
"All that matters now 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," said Eastwood in the two-minute spot, which aired during halftime. "This country can't be knocked out with one punch, we get right back up again, and when we do, the world is going to hear the roar of our engines. Yeah, it's half time America and our second half is about to begin."
The rah-rah America spot pumped up Detroit's big comeback — as we learned today, a sore spot with Karl Rove since it parallels all the same themes in Obama's reelection campaign.
"I was, frankly, offended by it," the Republican strategist told Fox News. "I'm a huge fan of Clint Eastwood, I thought it was an extremely well-done ad, but it is a sign of what happens when you have Chicago-style politics, and the president of the United States and his political minions are, in essence, using our tax dollars to buy corporate advertising and the best-wishes of the management which is benefited by getting a bunch of our money that they'll never pay back."
Eastwood, who was originally a critic of the auto bailout, denied this ad was tied to Obama in any way. "l am certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama. It was meant to be a message about just about job growth and the spirit of America. I think all politicians will agree with it...If any Obama or any other politician wants to run with the spirit of that ad, go for it."
Team Obama also denied any official connection, and took this as an opportunity to remind people of Obama's support of the bailouts.
"He was not willing to allow — did not believe it was necessary to allow — the American automobile industry to collapse and disappear," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said to reporters.
Chrysler was bailed out by taxpayers and just recently made its first profit since 1997.
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The Reupblican are on a sinking ship and Rove knows it. They have selected a candidate that will help to create the inequity narrative and they have seeded optimism in favor or pandering to the doom and gloom base of the party who can't see anything beyond President Barack Obama. They have no solutions, no platform, and no chance of winning in 2012.
Sorry Ga Girl, but they haven't selected quite yet. Clearly Romney is the frontrunner, but "selection" hasn't happened yet. Also, it's dangerous to say they (the GOP) have no chance. If liberal voters don't get out to vote, a repeat of 2010 can happen. We need to come together and everyone liberal MUST VOTE!
This liberal will and as far as I am concerned you can substitute any one of the so call republican candidates where I have posted Romney's name the results will be the same.
You are spot on GA girl. It doesn't matter who the GOP pick to run against President Obama, none of them can win. Romney is a millionaire shady businessman and Newt is a perverted joke. Rove know it is over with. Obama just has no competition from the GOP side. He is already leading the early polls against Romney.
Not so fast GA girl. The economy is still lousy, unemployment is still above 8% where it should have been 6% as Obama promised. We wasted $6 trillion dollars in 4 yrs and have nothing to show for. Democratic voters are disenchanted with the president. I don't see how you could be so optimistic? You should be nervous. This presidential race between Romney if he's nominated will be 50/50 at best.
Well Cindy-3358832 it is people like you who keep us worried. How you think and can be so naive to the obvious... Obama can't do much when you have a congress not doing anything... maybe you should go back to school and retake american history. If the gop get their way gays will be back in the closet, women will be barefoot and pregnant and I would say african americans would be slaves again but that won't be the case cause we all will be slaves. May I suggest you stop watching Fox and start watching other news stations and inform yourself to what is really going on out here.
Remember MM that Obama has the HOUSE AND SENATE in his first 2 years. He passed a lot of things but unfortunately did not produce the desired results. Something is definitely wrong. You can accuse the GOP all you want but they gave Obama a blank check worth $6 trillion dollars and we got nothing to show for. Maybe you're right, we should blame the Republicans for being too kind.
Cindy there is NO hope or optimism with the GOP candidates and I have lived long enough to know that what goes down usually rises so I cast my lot with Obama. Win or loose he has the best vision for this country. The GOP loons only represent the GOB Loon base at it's looniest. The world is looking for American leadership not a Romney bot or a ego maniacal megalomaniac in Newt.
Siiiiigh. No, Cindy, the President did not have the House and Senate. He had a cobbled-together coalition in the Senate that on most issues couldn't break through the most concerted obstruction in history. President Obama's policies had to be watered down to the point where they couldn't accomplish half of what they should have and they still got zero Republican votes.
Part of the message this year is this terrific, resonant "Half-Time" theme. The other part has to be punishing the Republicans for attempted national sabotage.
Another great show, Lawrence.
It took a relatively small amount of taxpayer money to help Chrysler and GM in 2009, our government propping up the auto manufacturers in Detroit along with over a thousand Chrysler and GM dealerships around the country (with most dealerships owned by Republican Party contributors, BTW). Almost all of this taxpayer money has subsequently been paid back to U.S. taxpayers, and the U.S. auto industry is going strong and growing.
Now compare this to the Republican bailout of Wall Street in 2008.
$700 Billion in overt taxpayer bailout money flooded into Wall Street firms, the same ones responsible for causing the 2008 financial crisis in the first place, with another $7.7 Trillion of Federal Reserve loans and guarantees secretly funneled to these same Wall Street firms at the same time. So, of course, Republicans continue to lie, continue to falsely claim that Democrats caused the 2008 disaster, even though Bush was still running the White House and this all happened even before Barack Obama won the November 2008 presidential election.
America overall is still trying to recover from this Republican-caused 2008 financial disaster, even as Detroit's engines are roaring once again because Democrats in 2009 cared enough about America and American jobs that Democrats in charge of our federal government in 2009 helped save the U.S. auto industry...even as Republicans, by and large, told Detroit and American workers to go suck a tailpipe.
Would I ever vote for a nation-destroying union-killing Republican? NEVER !!!!
Taxpayers give more billions in tax breaks to multi-national oil companys every year than American automakers got from the taxpayer (in the form of a bailout loan) to survive this crisis. The auto industry did not cause the auto crisis. Americans wanted to buy American cars, but Americans could not get financing..
Had we lost GM and Chrysler, they would have been split up and moved offshore, since that is where bankers were investing profits in 2008. Ford would have felt the impact of countless independent specialty job shops going bankrupt and would have focused sending their specialty work to the shops that would survive. Many of the small high-tech machine shops that would go out of business would make the continued fabrication of such products as communications satellites and spacecraft very difficult, or impossible, in the USA. America almost lost a substantial part of its core infrastructure to overseas interests.
It is odd how quickly Republicans will tell a Republican voter they are a liberal. It happened to me when I mentioned I voted for Obama as well as Republicans and other Democrats. After scratching my head for a bit, I now understand I am a liberal - and I've since become more politically aware and realized the deceptions which caused me to vote Republican. When Clint Eastwood makes a commercial that carefully balances the line between liberal and conservative in order to be non-political, he is accused of being a liberal by conservatives. Not sure this will play well moving forward.
I now recognize that when GWB said, "You're either with us or against us", he wasn't talking America, he was talking politics. Being a Republican ain't what it used to be. Nowadays, a good Republican holds all the exact same ideals as the party. Romney ain't a flip-flopper - he's simply chasing a right-headed party line like a good Republican must.
I live in Michigan so I start from a bias but I watched the ad live and truly thought it was an Obama commercial until the very end. The fact everyone is still talking about it and all 3 networks carried the GOP backlash on their Nightly News Show...just proves how effective it was. Gotta go now and find a Clint Eastwood movie on PPV.
I too was wondering why Clint Eastwood would be doing an Obama campaign ad. Then i realized it wasn't an Obama campaign ad. It was inspiring and spoke to Americans and our ability to over come adversity. The problem is that the add was truthful and if there's something Republicans can't stomach, it's the truth.
The ad reached out on an emotional level displaying a ray of sunshine through the departing storm. Positive and hopeful, it is everything Republicans currently are not. No wonder they hated the ad.
I didn't watch the Superbowl I watched movies instead..but this was pretty inspiring and moving for a car commercial. If it offended Karl Rove he needs to wake up and start looking at the real US and not just to privileged that he has his ego and self wrapped around.
borderorder hit it right on the head. Republicans have to tie the ad to Obama. They are running on a platform of negativity and fear. It would be incredibly disheartening if Americans choose negativity and fear over positivity and courage?
Oh maybe Karl Rove will go suck a tail pipe. He surely doesn't pay as much tax as the rest of us... Funny aamom, the positive uplifting ad that hit the sorry sacks in the gut... Gotta love it... You related the upbeat to The President... Love it even more... But what I truly loved the most was that some people were offended. Glad Mr Eastwood set the story straight... Hope they felt like the fools they are. So I guess we can say that it was a ray of sunshine and that is how I view our President and his family... God Bless you and our Country...
Yes sir, get that republican do nothing congress outta the way and let President Obama get on with his next four years. We will be great again!
It is about TIME we regroup and march forward together as Americans again. The rediculousness of the elections and campaigns have made us lose the spirit that was there after 9-11...we need to UNITE.
Shut the front DOOR!!! THAT was one hell of a spot that hit home for me. WE DO need to be Citizens UNITED! We DO need to pull together to overcome the MUCK that has trickled down from Ron and Don Regan to Boehner and Cantor today. The policies of bias for the wealthy and powerful few we Middle-Americans have suffered through for the last generation has gotten so far out of hand that a BIG CHANGE MUST COME ...and is surely coming.
That is why I watch Lawrence and Rachel and Ed et al. almost everyday. I hope you do too. I KNOW the Obama team should! Cheers everybody and THANKS Clint for a powerful spot that means so much more than just another car commercial. YOU ROCK, (as always) "A MAN has got to know his limits"...............
facts..auto bailouts were not a gift..they were a stock trade and we owned that stock for a while...Chruysler stock has been fully bought back mostly by Fiat and it made money...BUT GMs stock is still not returning a profit and may lose some money but many jobs were saved all down the dealership and manufacturiung chains...so what it cost was worth the risk...the bank bailouts were on the other hand a gift and were never going to be and will never be paid back by any of them and we took that up our combined arses...feel good did it...
From their reaction to this commercial, it’s obvious that Republicans want America to fail. Their attitude is indicative of the extreme fracture of the Republican Party and its complete separation from the ideals of the US Constitution. Put America first and support our success, not our defeat. Apparently, in the Republican Party it’s better to be Republican and conservative than to be an American. Republicans do as much for America as Tokyo Rose did for America 70 years ago.
It was a very heartfelt and patriotic ad. If Eastwood is a Republican, he is an American first. And that is a beautiful example for us all.
The Republicans are foolish to rail against it. Eastwood could not have meant it any other way but as he says...America first, country before party!
Why does Karl Rove hate America? Who else but a republican operative would bemoan success in America? I'm sure Rove and and his puppet Romney would rather strip GM and Chrysler of their value in order to enrich their wall street buddies. When will we finally acknowledge the truth about republicans--they HATE AMERICA.
Republican politicians do not hate America. The love power. They would rather rule over a ruined country, than be out of power in a prosperous one. And when the reality does not conform with their narrative, heck, they invent their own.
Brilliantly stated.