re: #94 Big Steve

He’s a Republican??? Wow. I guess I would tune in to hear him.

Political life of Clint Eastwood

Eastwood registered as a Republican in order to vote for Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and he passively supported Richard Nixon’s 1968 and 1972 presidential campaigns. He later criticized Nixon’s handling of the Vietnam War and his morality during Watergate.[2][3] He usually describes himself as a libertarian in interviews.[4] He told USA Weekend in 2004, “I don’t see myself as conservative, but I’m not ultra-leftist. … I like the libertarian view, which is to leave everyone alone. Even as a kid, I was annoyed by people who wanted to tell everyone how to live.”[5]

At times, he has supported Democrats in California, such as the liberal and environmentally concerned Representative Sam Farr in 2002. Eastwood contributed $1,000 to Farr’s successful re-election campaign that year and on May 23, 2003, he hosted a $5,000-per-ticket fundraiser for California’s Democratic governor, Gray Davis.[6] Later that year, Eastwood offered to film a commercial in support of the embattled governor,[7] and in 2001, the star visited Davis’ office to support an alternative energy bill written by another Democrat, California State Assemblyman Fred Keeley.

Eastwood disapproved of America’s wars in Korea (1950–1953), Vietnam (1964–1975), and Iraq (2003–2011), believing that the United States should not be overly militaristic or play the role of global policeman. He considers himself too individualistic to be either right-wing or left-wing, and has described himself as a “political nothing” and a “moderate”.[3]

During the 2008 United States Presidential Election, Eastwood endorsed John McCain for President; he has known McCain since 1973.[8] Upon the election of Barack Obama, Eastwood stated “Obama is my president now and I am going to be wishing him the very best because it is what is best for all of us.”[9]

In August 2010, Eastwood wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom, George Osborne, to protest the decision to close the UK Film Council. Eastwood warned that the closure could result in fewer foreign production companies choosing to work in the UK.[10][11]