Connie Britton Calls Out Mitt Romney for Adopting Friday Night Lights Motto

Nashville star takes aim at the Republican presidential contender for using the battle cry from her old show to win the hearts of voters

If there's one thing that's clear in Connie Britton's eyes, Mitt Romney is the wrong guy to be drawing inspiration from Friday Night Lights.

The actress and Sarah Aubrey, the beloved TV show's executive producer, cowrote an op-ed in USA Today on Sunday lashing out at the Republican presidential candidate for co-opting Friday Night Lights' battle cry, "Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can't Lose" for his campaign.

"The show wasn't just about football. And 'Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can't Lose' wasn't just about winning games. Rather, it was a rallying cry of hope and optimism in a community where everyone had a fair shot—no matter their background, no matter their parents, no matter their gender. And no matter their politics," the pair asserted. 

Britton—who played Tami Taylor in the series that chronicled a fictional high school football team in the rural, middle-class Texas town of Dillon—and Aubrey then asked what the women of Dillon would think about Romney using the line for political gain.

The duo pointed out that the policies the former governor advocates go against everything FNL stood for—at least when it comes to women's issues including equal pay for equal work and being able to make their own health care decisions. 

"Dillon is a classic American town filled with hard-working, middle-class Americans, who just want to lead productive, healthy lives," she added. "In fact, it is President Obama who has shown his values to be more closely aligned with those represented by the phrase."

Britton noted that Obama signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act allowing women to be paid equally for the work they do, which would have enabled her character on the show "to fight for the same wages as men."

The piece went on to point out that Obamacare has ensured that women have access to life-saving cancer screenings and affordable birth control whereas Romney wants to do away with Planned Parenthood, which Britton said was "well-represented on the show," particularly since Tami got a pregnancy test there.

The tube star's comments come a couple of weeks after Friday Night Lights creator Peter Berg slammed the Mittster, accusing Romney of stealing the phrase to boost his appeal to white, working-class voters.