Clint Eastwood was asked to give a speech at the 2012
Republican Convention, an invitation he accepted. This was at the last high-point before that
particularly meagre campaign season trudged into a bland and predictable
ending.
Invention: Eastwood says that President Obama has not
kept his promises, and that he is disconnected from the concerns of the
people. He repeats the usual populist
appeals that politicians serve the people, and that they do not own America;
such power resides within the people. In
a way, he says, we are America. While
these arguments are not particularly inventive, they are familiar, and most
partisan lay-Republicans do not consider them empty platitudes, but anoint with
nostalgic fondness.
Arrangement: Eastwood's speech is arranged in a
conversational style as he interrogates "Obama", as symbolized by an
empty chair. He leans in to certain
topics, while others he barely touches on.
"Obama" even occasionally interrupts him, allowing Eastwood to
offer some witty asides to the audience.
The arrangement is adequate, but could use some refinement.
Style: Eastwood's style is frank, genuine, and
wise. He appears not like a square jawed
cowboy with bombardier blue eyes, but a wise elder, speaking frankly to a
younger man. He does not make any
pretension to being special, and this humility he exhibits earns him raucous
applause and cheering. He is imminently
cool, even aged as he is.
Memory: Nothing Eastwood particularly said was very
memorable, as his speech was largely retreading old ground. He did everything expected of him, if nothing
else. However, while the specific topic
of the speech will likely fade from memory, the actual speech never did. You see, I first witnessed this speech on
live TV back in 2012, and I distinctly recall it, even before I watched it for
a second time. And I can tell you, in my
case, time did not dull my memory of it.
Delivery: Eastwood does stumble a few times, and
repeats himself maybe twice in the whole speech, but such errors do not detract
from the meaning of the speech. The
speech is structured like a casual conversation, and Eastwood leans heavily
into this, granting him a bit of leeway.
But he doesn't ruin it with obtuse formality, either. His delivery is very good.
However, despite the performance of Eastwood and other
speakers, Romney lost. So, in some ways,
the speech was not as successful as it could have been. But a single speech is usually not enough to
win an election, and the ultimate fault of that loss does not rest on
Eastwood's shoulders, anyway. But in
more realistic terms, the speech had a significant positive impact on the
Republican National Convention, so it could clearly be called a success because
of that.
And it made me vote Republican, so I guess that should
count for something.
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