Ninety minutes later, secreted in a holding room off stage as he waited to be introduced, Clint rejected the offer of face powder. “I want to shine,” the actor explained. Listening to others praise Romney from the podium, he decided he didn’t want to be the tenth guy on the program repeating the same cliches as the others. Eastwood wanted to try something different. “Do you have a stool?” Clint asked a stagehand. “Could you put it onstage before I go out? Just to the left of the podium? Thanks.”

Once he took the stage and after the huge roar of the crowd settled down, Clint started talking, addressing the large audience (auditorium and television) but also (shifting his glance) the chair. What was up with that? Who was Clint talking to? “I’ve got Mr. Obama here,” Eastwood explained, “I was going to ask him some questions …”

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