Mitt Romney must be feeling lucky, punk.
The Republican presidential candidate got a surprise boost Friday night when the star of Dirty Harry, Academy Award-winning actor and director Clint Eastwood appeared at Romney's Idaho fundraiser, saying he endorsed Romney because "the country needs a boost."
"He just made my day," Romney said.
Romney aides said that the event in Idaho's Sun Valley raised more than $2 million US, a record for a fundraising event in the state of Idaho.
Eastwood was reluctantly drawn into the 2012 campaign earlier this year when an ad by Chrysler, entitled "Halftime in America," ran during halftime of the Super Bowl, narrated by Eastwood and seemingly an endorsement of President Barack Obama.
At the time, Eastwood said flatly that he was not endorsing either candidate, telling Fox News Channel he was "certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama."
"It was meant to be a message just about job growth and the spirit of America," Eastwood said at the time. "I think all politicians will agree with it. I thought the spirit was OK. I am not supporting any candidate at this time."
That changed Friday as Eastwood entered the resort unaccompanied where about 325 people turned out to contribute to Romney's campaign.
Eastwood took the stage after an impromptu introduction from Romney, telling the crowd that he first saw Romney when the candidate was running for governor of Massachusetts and Eastwood was directing the movie Mystic River in Boston.
Tax fairness was the primary reason Eastwood cited in his remarks for endorsing Romney, saying Romney will "restore a decent tax system - so there's a fairness and people are not pitted against each other."
When asked by reporters if this was his second act of "Halftime in America," Eastwood laughed, saying "That's pretty good."
