Republicans attack Clint Eastwood Super Bowl ad
The ad had Clint Eastwood declaring that it to be 'half-time in America'. Photo: Getty Images
A Super Bowl ad starring Clint Eastwood is at the centre of a political row following Republican claims it was an endorsement of Barack Obama's re-election campaign.
The two minute spot for American car giant Chrysler had the gravel-voiced Dirty Harry star declaring that it to be "half-time in America" as rousing images showed the resurgence of Detroit, the city at the heart of the US auto industry.
"They almost lost everything," Eastwood said in the commercial, which was broadcast to a Superbowl audience of 111 million people. "But we all pulled together, now Motor City is fighting again."
What the ad doesn't mention is that Chrysler is back to work following an $12.5 billion government bailout from the Obama administration - part of a series of measures to rescue the "Big Three" of American car production from bankruptcy.
Despite enormous controversy at the time, the 2009 bailout is now widely seen to have saved thousands of jobs and is likely to be at the heart of Mr Obama's re-election efforts.
The president has already made several references to the decision's opponents - a thinly veiled attack on Mitt Romney, the Republican frontrunner, who penned an article for the New York Times entitled 'Let Detroit Go Bankrupt'.
Karl Rove, the architect of George W. Bush's two election victories, led the conservative charge against the ad, claiming that it was payback from Chrysler's grateful executives.
"The president of the United States and his political minions are, in essence, using our tax dollars to buy corporate advertising and the best wishes of the management," he told Fox News.
Criticism from Mr Rove and a host of conservative pundits left Chrysler scrambling to deny allegations of political bias. Sergio Marchionne, the company's chief executive said the ad "contained zero political content".
"It was not intended to be any type of political overture on our part," he said. "We are as apolitical as you can make us... I sincerely hope that it doesn't get utilised as political fodder in a debate."
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney claimed ignorance and said that neither the administration nor the Obama campaign had any hand in its production nor any warning that it would be broadcast. But Republicans noted that David Axelrod, Mr Obama's top strategist, and Dan Pfeiffer, the White House Communications Director, had both tweeted approvingly of it.
- Raf Sanchez, Washington
