Last week at VoterTide our team decided it would be fun to put up a Facebook Poll to see who our followers wanted Mitt Romney to pick as Vice President. We picked out the ten most popular names we were seeing in VoterTide data nationwide. Then we posted the poll to Facebook users. However, we didn’t close the poll to additional “write-in” names. The votes and write-ins began and guess what? Actor Clint Eastwood was entered as a write-in. We left the poll open for a couple days and have received 244 votes so far. Some other humorous names were entered such as Nancy Pelosi, Rafalca The Dressage Horse, “Who Cares”, and of course “Your Mom.” Clint Eastwood kept getting votes, then more votes, then more votes. He now has 109 votes compared to only 32 votes for the next serious contender Paul Ryan. He blows away ever other choice.
While there is no possible way that the 82 year Clint Eastwood would be considered a legitimate VP choice, people apparently want someone like him. In many ways, Clint Eastwood seems to stand for what America stands for. He has toughness, courage, charisma, and strength. His popularity and celebrity status may even rival that of President Obama. What is this telling us? Could it be Romney needs to take a swing for the fence like McCain tried four years ago? Palin was a flop given she quickly looked unprepared for the job, and such a swing could backfire for Romney as well. But maybe he has no other choice. Romney is behind in the polls and his momentum appears to be fading. With his pick of Paul Ryan do you think he took a safe pick? Should Mitt Romney have really swung for the fences?
Considering that Eastwood is pro-choice, pro-gay marriage (and he’s condemned gay marriage opponents), pro-environmental protection, pro-gun control, atheistic or agnostic (but he likes Buddhism and has meditated in Buddhist temples in Japan), and anti-war, how exactly would he fit on a Republican ticket?
Meanwhile, having at least seven children by five different women, most of them out of wedlock, and having probably engaged in sexual intercourse with at least hundreds of women, wouldn’t help his chances on any presidential ticket. The charges (however spurious) of former girlfriend Sondra Locke, who claimed that Eastwood forced her to undergo two abortions and a tubal ligation, wouldn’t help, either, especially among Republicans.
As for America standing for “toughness,” “courage,” and “strength,” how does the country really stand for any of those values given the craven nature of our political system and politicians and our tendency to engage in war via drones and planes that often bomb innocent civilians? To be sure, there are some Americans who stand for “toughness,” “courage,” and “strength,” especially the veterans who fought on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, but certainly the whole country doesn’t meet that criteria.
But to your point, I suppose, we do like to think of ourselves that way. Unfortunately, we don’t live up to our ideals as a nation.