Clint Eastwood grabs laughs, supports Mitt Romney at Republican National Convention

The only real surprise of the GOP convention's last night was special guest Clint Eastwood reminding the Republican Party why they're such fans of tight scripts, in a very vivid way.

Eastwood first talked about the emotions of the nation when President Obama was elected, then launched into a diatribe against the president that featured a faux conversation with an empty chair.

Eastwood attacked the idea that lawyers should be president, implied that his invisible Obama told him to say something incredibly offensive to Romney, and bashed the way the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have been conducted before concluding that might be time to have a businessman president. He then lead the crowd in a participatory version of his signature phrase, "go ahead, make my day."

If the Republicans don't want surprises, they ought to avoid surprise guests.

Eastwood says with 23 million unemployed, a national disgrace, it's time for someone else to come along and solve the problem.

He's getting a ton of laughs, first one to do that at this convention.

Eastwood asks why we decided to let lawyers be president, crowd loves it.

We own this country, he says.

His message is actually a bit bipartisan, although he's clearly endorsing Mitt. Very simply pro-American.

People begging him to say go ahead, make my day. He does first part, crowd does second.

And out comes Clint Eastwood, to tumultuous cheering.

I hope I look that good at his age.

I wish I looked that good at my age.

And now family videos with kids.

This needs to pick up soon, it goes on network in 13 minutes.

Talking about Mitt's rescue of the Salt Lake City Olympic Games.

Amazing how segments of the crowd rock out when the camera is on them, the stop when it pans away.
Guy can sing, you can't deny, but I'm surrounded by a lot of young people and they've gone back to their smartphones for the duration.

An unwillingness to apologize, ever, is to me a sign of tremendous weakness.

Arena, 45 minutes before primetime and big names, is NBA Finals packed.

People sitting near me are watching and listening, and making comments like "That's amazing," as Romney's friends and coworkers tell stories of his accomplishments.

They keep playing a tiny segment of the Barack Obama "you didn't build that" speech, to great effect. I can't help but wonder if the crowd just doesn't care that the meaning of that quote is entirely out of context when presented in this way.

When you're being lied to, and you know you're being lied to, and you like it, is it still lying?

He's talking about when Romney was a lay Mormon leader in Boston.

His stories of Mitt's time as pastor are obviously a sincere tribute. But they're kind of overly detailed and nitty gritty. Crowd is bit restless.

About the crowd, very different than the past two nights. Most noticeably, the floor delegates are almost all in their seats, a big contrast to the bazaar on market day atmosphere of the past two nights. They're not all paying attention, but they are all sitting or at least standing still.

Can Jeb be president someday? I don't know. He is likable and experienced. I think the first question is whether he'd ever run, there never seems to be a clear answer on that.

Jeb says he loves his brother, and gives light props on his presidency.

It would have been odd, honestly, if he didn't. But he only gives George W. two sentences. His real topic is education, a passion for Jeb.

Jeb is roundly considered a pretty good guy. Like his brother, he's far more liberal on immigration than the GOP in general, and he's sort of given a pass it because his wife is from Mexico.

He's rattling off sad US education statistics, to fair applause, but it's pretty numbers heavy.

Because let me tell you, the whiteness of the attendees at this conventions is shocking.

On each side of the stage is a sign language interpreter. I imagine they are not visible on TV.

I once interviewed the woman who was signing for John Edwards, in 2004, asking how they got these gigs and how new words are introduced into sign language when they evolve, like "Internet".

She said there was sort of a bureau for sign language interpreters and a newsletter to introduce new signs.

Fascinating woman.

And the fiends to a nice round of applause.

Followed by the entrance of Newt and Calista Gingrich.

An interesting aside I meant to mention last night but forgot in the tumult: Almost every member, If not every member, of the color guard last night had at least one prosthetic limb.

Florida Rep. Connie Mack up first.

The third and final night of the shortened Republican National Convention begin at 7 p.m. Planned highlights include Florida’s Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush, as well as, of course, nominee Mitt Romney.

Also on tap: A “surprise guest speaker.” No word on the identity, but the rumor is Clint Eastwood.

It’s been a quiet convention thus far. There have been a few highlights, most notably Ann Romney, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, ex-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and VP nominee Paul Ryan.

But in general the mood has been muted. The arena is full of people more opposed to President Barack Obama than happy about Mitt Romney, and it has shown. It’s easier to get fired up on love of your candidate than on dislike of your opponent.

But tonight, with Romney himself on tap and the convention building to a crescendo, may be different.