Someone commented on that yahoo thread that the bit had a lot of Bob Newhart styling to it. I think that person was on to something.
I've been thinking of Eastwood's performance all evening and what he said has really stuck with me.
Perhaps we've become "ageist" -- hostile to old people -- and need to have a little talking to.
I think what was sorely lacking was a good director.
The intro music came right on top of the previous piece of music played. There needed to be a longer pause between them and the intro music needed to pay a bit longer to build anticipation.
The chair needed to be of more substance - made out of wood so it could be seen better on tv. A sign with Obama’s name pinned to it so the audience could read it would have helped too.
It needed Clint to direct it. lol.
Excellent points - all of them.