Clint Eastwood's rambling speech may have irked Romney aides

TAMPA - In a tightly-scripted convention, Clint Eastwood has delivered an unscripted endorsement of Mitt Romney that may not have been well-received by some GOP officials.

The actor and filmmaker, standing next to an empty chair on the convention stage, carried on a sometimes rambling conversation with an imaginary President Barack Obama -- criticizing him for failing to turn the economy around and for wanting to close the Guantanamo Bay prison for terror suspects.

At one point, he acted as if he were listening to the imaginary Obama unleash a diatribe against Romney.

As his remarks stretched on, some stern-faced aides to Romney were seen wincing backstage. Eastwood was the only speaker not reading from a teleprompter as he spoke.

The crowd cheered Eastwood and shouted his catchphrase: "Go ahead, make my day."

But Twitter has been filled with comments mocking Eastwood's rambling speech. CNN's Howard Kurtz called it the "weirdest convention moment" he'd ever seen. MSNBC's conservative host Joe Scarborough wrote, "A great night for Mitt Romney just got sidetracked by Clint Eastwood."

And film critic Roger Ebert said Eastwood came across as "sad and pathetic."

But southern rocker Charlie Daniels tweeted, "Clint Eastwood made my day."