During a typically animated Super Bowl party in suburban Chicago Sunday, the chatter came to an abrupt halt when that trademark voice-in an urgent, raspy whisper-knifed through the air in its quiet, compelling way. 
 
 Suddenly, all eyes turned to the television screen flashing soft images of an industrial America that had been pushed to the brink only to claw its way back, in Clint Eastwood's words, because America "knows how to come from behind to win." Sounding like the weary but determined character from a tough Detroit neighborhood (a role he played in "Gran Torino"), Eastwood's tone turned defiant. 
 
 "This country can't be knocked out with one punch. We get right back up again, and when we do the world is going to hear the roar of our engines." The commercial, "Halftime in America," didn't reveal its sponsor until the final seconds, when Chrysler logos appeared briefly, but it has already become a classic, and perhaps inevitably in this election year, a political football. 
 
 White House spokesman Dan Pfeiffer weighed in on Twitter, "Saving the American Auto Industry: Something Eminem and Clint Eastwood can agree on." (Eminem's Chrysler commercial was a huge hit last Super bowl.) The conservative blogger Michel Malkin fumed, "Did I just see Clint Eastwood fronting an auto bailout ad?" 
 
 Chrysler, like General Motors, was headed for the junk heap before the Bush and Obama administrations rode to the rescue with $12.5 billion from U.S. taxpayers. Now, both are roaring back from near death-hiring workers and posting strong profits. In January, the American auto industry put the pedal to the metal, selling cars at the fastest pace in nearly four years. (Chrysler has repaid all but $1.3 billion.) 
 
 Ironically enough, Eastwood-the former Republican mayor of Carmel, Calif., opposed the bailout, telling the Los Angeles Times in 2010: "We shouldn't be bailing out the banks and car companies. If a CEO can't figure out how to make his company profitable, then he shouldn't be the CEO." 
 
 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney also opposed using government money to help the American automakers, famously penning an op-ed in the New York Times entitled, "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt." Now Romney says he favored a "structured bankruptcy" using private funds. But former Obama administration car czar Steven Rattner, who supervised the bailout, tells ABC News that such a solution was impossible during the credit crisis of 2008-2009 because only the government was willing or able to provide financing. 
 
 But Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne insists that presidential politics had nothing to do with Eastwood's Chrysler commercial. "It has zero political content," Marchionne told Detroit radio station WJR. "We are as apolitical as you can make us." Instead, he says, the ad was intended as a tribute to the employees of Chrysler and resonated "because it says something…about the resilience of America." 
 
 Italy's Fiat SpA now owns a majority of Chrysler. 

 FoxNation.com 
 
 Following the fall out over the controversial Chrysler Super Bowl halftime ad, Clint Eastwood spoke exclusively with O’Reilly Factor producer Ron Mitchell… 
 
 "I just want to say that the spin stops with you guys, and there is no spin in that ad. On this I am certain. 
 
 l am certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama. It was meant to be a message about just about job growth and the spirit of America. I think all politicians will agree with it. I thought the spirit was OK. 
 
 I am not supporting any politician at this time. 
 
 Chrysler to their credit didn’t even have cars in the ad. 
 
 Anything they gave me for it went for charity. 
 
 If any Obama or any other politician wants to run with the spirit of that ad, go for it." 
 
 Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod tweeted his support for the ad last night. When asked about it on Fox News today, former GW Bush advisor Karl Rove said he was “offended” by the ad and accused the Obama’s “political minions” of “using our tax dollars to buy corporate advertising.” White House spokesman Jay Carney insisted at today’s briefing there was “no” involvement by the administration.
– God bless America ... and the Chrysler bailout ... seemed to be the message that left football fans misty-eyed after Clint Eastwood's Super Bowl Chrysler ad. It's "halftime" in America, and we're all pulling together for a brighter economic future, says the gravelly-voiced star. But Eastwood was opposed to the bailout that made the Chrysler turnaround possible, and now the ad has become a political football as Dems score points with it and the GOP tackles it, notes ABC News. “Saving the American Auto Industry: Something Eminem and Clint Eastwood can agree on," crowed White House spokesman Dan Pfeiffer on Twitter, referring to Eminem’s Chrysler ad during last year's Super Bowl. "Powerful spot," chimed in Obama re-election strategist David Axelrod. But George Bush's political maven Karl Rove snapped that he was "offended" by the ad, which he argued was orchestrated by the administration to paint a rosy future. Wait a minute there, pardner. "I am certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama," Eastwood shot back to Fox News. The ad "was meant to be a message about job growth and the spirit of America. I think all politicians will agree with it." Ironically, the Republican star and former mayor of Carmel, Calif., blasted the $12.5 billion bailout that saved Chrysler's bacon. “We shouldn’t be bailing out the banks and car companies. If a CEO can’t figure out how to make his company profitable, then he shouldn’t be the CEO," he said at the time. Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said the ad has nothing to do with politics, but was intended as a tribute to Chrysler workers and "the resilience of America.” Here's the final irony: Chrysler isn't an all-American company. Italy's Fiat now owns a majority share.