With an omnipresent steel gaze and no nonsense demeanor, Clint Eastwood seems the perfect candidate to, well, cut through the detritus of the current pool of contenders for the Republican presidential nomination.

And the Academy Award winning actor and director apparently sees something he likes in former Godfather’s Pizza executive, Herman Cain.

Cain rose out of nowhere to become a frontrunner in the primary race after Texas Governor Rick Perry’s shooting star exploded after several awkward – at best – gaffes that were broadcast worldwide. But just as quickly as he emerged as a front-runner, Cain started having his own problems – namely several women accusing him of inappropriate behavior during his pizza days and several of his own misstatements regarding foreign policy. And then there is the now (in)famous YouTube campaign advertisement featuring his smoking (and we don’t mean hot) campaign manager.

Cain has had some high profile celebrities come out against him – most notably heavyweights Morgan Freeman and Harry Belafonte. Even so, Cain is still gathering some support from the likes of comedian Dennis Miller, real estate mogul Donald Trump, and country music singers Trace Adkins and Lee Greenwood. Even Sarah Palin recently dismissed Cain’s candidacy, calling him “the flavor of the week.”

But Eastwood is more engaged politically than most on that list. The Libertarian former mayor of Carmel, California, who always votes Republican, favors free-market capitalism and is an advocate for cutting the budget without stimulus dollars to stimulate the economy. The director of the J. Edgar Hoover biopic “J. Edgar” seems unbothered by the speed bumps Cain is currently navigating.

“I love Cain’s story,” Eastwood recently told the L.A. Times, in an interview. “He’s a guy who came from nowhere and did well, obviously against heavy odds. He’s a doer and a straight-talker, which I don’t see enough of from either party.”

Strong words for sure. But we haven’t seen Eastwood sporting t shirt or showing up at any fundraising events, so it’s hard to say how deep the movie maverick’s support goes for Cain. Even so, the L.A. Times story should help Cain get some public polling traction nonetheless.

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