Campaign 2012 Tidbits (22 of 26): Eastwood intro clip.

From Mark Halperin and John Heilemann’s Double Down – Game Change 2012 (New York: Penguin Press, 2013), p. 372:

[Clint] Eastwood’s turn onstage [at the GOP convention] was a few hours away... Eastwood had brought a DVD with him and played it for the Romney people,  It featured a clip from “The Outlaw Josey Wales”, in which the Native American character Ten Bears says, “It’s sad that governments are chiefed by the double-tongues.”

You can use that for my introduction if you want, Eastwood said.

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Campaign 2012 Tidbits (21 of 26): Romney and a Romney staffer on Ryan.

From Mark Halperin and John Heilemann’s Double Down – Game Change 2012 (New York: Penguin Press, 2013), p. 356:

[Paul] Ryan reminded Mitt of junior partners he used to work with at Bain: eager, earnest, solicitous, smart, and not at all threatening.  [Romney staffer Bob] White had a phrase for these buttoned-down go-getters, which he applied to Ryan: “client-ready.”

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Campaign 2012 Tidbits (20 of 26): Biden as attack dog on Romney.

From Mark Halperin and John Heilemann’s Double Down – Game Change 2012 (New York: Penguin Press, 2013), p. 338:

In a speech to the National Council of La Raza, Biden had hit [Romney on his refusal to release many years of past taxes]:  “Romney wants you to show your papers, but he won’t show us his.”

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Campaign 2012 Tidbits (19 of 26): Bain Capital on the campaign.

From Mark Halperin and John Heilemann’s Double Down – Game Change 2012 (New York: Penguin Press, 2013), p. 332:

Hobbling [a Romney operative]’s ability [to respond to Bain allegations] was a factor hidden from the outside world: the staunch refusal of Bain to assist [Romney’s campaign HQ in] Boston on defense.  A decade removed from the firm, Romney was a distant memory to all but a few executives; the institutional loyalty to Mitt was minimal, and the desire to wade into partisan politics nil.  Bain’s upper management and employees were split among Republicans and Democrats.  There were even some Obama bundlers, who pleaded with [Obama campaign staffers Jim] Messina and [David] Axelrod not to drag the firm into the campaign – extracting only a concession that [Obama’s campaign HQ in] Chicago would refrain from using an infamous photo of a young Mitt and some Bain associates clutching greenbacks.

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Campaign 2012 Tidbits (18 of 26): Santorum on Catholic Dems.

From Mark Halperin and John Heilemann’s Double Down – Game Change 2012 (New York: Penguin Press, 2013), p. 281:

When his advisers pointed out that attacking JFK wasn’t exactly a wise strategy for luring Catholic Democrats and independents (who could vote in [Michigan’s] open primary), Santorum shrugged.  “They’re not real Catholics,” he said.

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Campaign 2012 Tidbits (17 of 26): Romney on Trump.

From Mark Halperin and John Heilemann’s Double Down – Game Change 2012 (New York: Penguin Press, 2013), pp. 263-264:

For a man of such extreme squareness, Romney took curious pleasure in the company of oddballs and showboats.  After encounters with Trump, he would say to his aides, “Isn’t he fun?”

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