Hollywood icon Clint Eastwood endorses Romney

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney received some Hollywood star power on Friday, gaining the endorsement of famed actor and director Clint Eastwood.

Eastwood, who attended a fundraiser for Romney in Sun Valley, Idaho, explained his support for the presumptive GOP nominee, telling reporters "I think the country needs a boost," according to media reports.

Eastwood spoke to donors at the Romney event. 

"It's now more important than ever that we need Gov. Romney, and I'm going to be voting for him as I know most of you will be," he said. "We've got to just spread the word and get the whole country behind this because it's going to be an exciting election."

Eastwood said he excepted to Romney to "restore, hopefully, a decent tax system that we need badly." The Hollywood icon said the country needed a system where "there's a fairness and people are not pitted against one another as to who's paying taxes and who isn't," a likely reference to Democrats who have called for the wealthiest of Americans to pay higher tax rates.

Reports said Romney raised more than $2 million for his Victory Fund, a joint fundraising effort between the campaign and Republican National Committee (RNC). 

Eastwood said he first noticed Romney when the candidate was running for Massachusetts governor in the early 200s and Eastwood was in the state filming his Academy Award-winner "Mystic River."

"I said, `God, this guy is too handsome to be governor, but he does look like he could be president,’" Eastwood joked. "As the years have gone by I'm beginning to think even more so that."

"He just made my day," said Romney to donors after Eastwood spoke.

Eastwood, who has been a vocal supporter of GOP candidates in the past, raised the ire of conservatives after his appearance in a Super Bowl ad for Chrysler earlier this year.

Many Republicans said the ad which touted the auto bailout and the resurgence of Detroit's auto industry was an endorsement of President Obama, with political strategist Karl Rove saying he was "offended by it."

Eastwood however denied the ad was politically motived. 

The Obama campaign has pointed to the government-managed bailout for three of Detroit's automakers as a key success of the administration and accused Romney of wanting to let the Detroit carmakers go bankrupt.

Romney's campaign has said he would have forced a managed-bankruptcy and hit back at claims the bailout was a success. This week, the Romney camp released a new ad featuring Ohio auto dealer employee Al Zarzour who claims he lost his job when "dealerships were forced to close" under the bailout.

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