Clint Eastwood loses the plot but makes Mitt Romney’s day

At times he wasn’t so much Dirty Harry as Ramblin’ Rose. Yet with a speech that wobbled from surreal to incoherent, Clint Eastwood stole the show at Mitt Romney’s coronation in Florida early today.

Most bizarrely, the star acted out a conversation with an “invisible” President Obama on live primetime TV.

“I’ve got Mr Obama sitting here. And he’s — I was going to ask him a couple of questions,” he said.

But Eastwood, 82, managed to pull it off, finally leading the packed hall at the Republican national convention in Tampa in a chorus of his catchphrase, “Make my day”.

The audience had hoped for a star guest who could whip up the crowd before Mr Romney made his acceptance speech to launch his campaign for the presidency and they were not disappointed.

Tumultuous applause greeted Eastwood, who looked immaculate in a dark suit and striped pale blue tie. “Save some for Mitt,” he told the delighted crowd. Alas, he turned out to be The Man With No Script and his 11-minute speech meandered through confusing jokes, errors and long pauses.

His theme was disappointment with Mr Obama. “I remember three and a half years ago, when Mr Obama won the election … Everybody was crying. Oprah was crying. I was even crying.

“I haven’t cried that hard since I found out that there are 23 million unemployed people in this country. Now that is something to cry for because that is a disgrace.”

Mr Romney and his wife Ann looked thrilled, but opponents called the speech a “car crash” and Twitter was full of jokes.

Obama’s team tweeted a photo of the president in a chair saying, “This seat’s taken” and film critic Roger Ebert tweeted: “Clint, my hero, is coming across as sad and path-etic.”

But Mr Romney’s campaign team said: “Judging an American icon like Clint Eastwood through a typical political lens doesn’t work.”

Karl Rove, political strategist and former Bush adviser, added: “He’s Clint Eastwood. He doesn’t have to say a lot.”