Edited by Gillian Palmer
Obama "Explodes" Clint Eastwood
Published in Le Figaro
(France) on 3 September 2012
by Veronique Saint-Geours (link to original)
(France) on 3 September 2012
by Veronique Saint-Geours (link to original)
Translated from
by Charlotte Schwennsen.
To close the calamitous “affair” of Hollywood giant Clint Eastwood at the Tampa Republican Convention, Barack Obama was committed to a ferocious exercise of style of communication. Aboard Air Force One he said a few words “that kill” to the journalist of USA Today, conforming to the apparent “positive thinking” ritual and displaying his admiration for the great Hollywood legend. Thus, he triggered a vicious buzz and put the laughers at his side by avoiding dragging to Charlotte the repercussions of this Romney campaign blunder. Unless Hollywood is carried off to the Democratic Convention with style.
Obama’s very cryptic repartee with Clint Eastwood, and thus with the Romney campaign, implies several “musts”:
-Obama minimizes Clint Eastwood’s dimension of intervention by recalling that if a candidate is affected by this type of offense then he should choose another profession. In the form of “okay, buddy,” I have seen some and I will see others.
-Obama reminds Clint that he is a huge fan of this cinema legend. No loss of face for the legend. In the form of “because I’m worth it,” but if he is the only Hollywood legend that Republicans have to produce against me…
-The president isolates Clint Eastwood by letting journalists at the Tampa evening function, such as Rachel Maddow, bemusedly salute this Dirty Harry blunder. Obama was on to a sure thing having the immense majority of Hollywood at his side. Fundraisers organized by actors such as George Clooney in Hollywood and this week in London brought in millions of dollars.
-The diffusion of the sketch of the empty chair becoming “chairbama” went viral, spread out on Twitter and even reappeared in a photo of Pete Souza, the official White House photographer, transforming the Republican blunder free from attachment to Obama. On the eve of Charlotte it’s blessed bread. And if, out of courtesy, Ann Romney continues to find Clint’s performance unique, she is the only one and will, especially, not have a future.
Obama’s very cryptic repartee with Clint Eastwood, and thus with the Romney campaign, implies several “musts”:
-Obama minimizes Clint Eastwood’s dimension of intervention by recalling that if a candidate is affected by this type of offense then he should choose another profession. In the form of “okay, buddy,” I have seen some and I will see others.
-Obama reminds Clint that he is a huge fan of this cinema legend. No loss of face for the legend. In the form of “because I’m worth it,” but if he is the only Hollywood legend that Republicans have to produce against me…
-The president isolates Clint Eastwood by letting journalists at the Tampa evening function, such as Rachel Maddow, bemusedly salute this Dirty Harry blunder. Obama was on to a sure thing having the immense majority of Hollywood at his side. Fundraisers organized by actors such as George Clooney in Hollywood and this week in London brought in millions of dollars.
-The diffusion of the sketch of the empty chair becoming “chairbama” went viral, spread out on Twitter and even reappeared in a photo of Pete Souza, the official White House photographer, transforming the Republican blunder free from attachment to Obama. On the eve of Charlotte it’s blessed bread. And if, out of courtesy, Ann Romney continues to find Clint’s performance unique, she is the only one and will, especially, not have a future.