‘Friday Night Lights’ Star Connie Britton, EP Sarah Aubrey Criticize Romney for Using Show’s Motto

Friday Night Lights star Connie Britton and executive producer Sarah Aubrey have criticized Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney for his use of the show’s motto “Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. Can’t Lose!” in his campaign.

In a column penned for USA Today, the pair say the women of Dillon, Texas — where the movie and TV show were set — would more likely benefit from voting for President Obama, whose values are “more closely aligned with those represented by the phrase.”

PHOTOS: The Top Celebrity Political Twitter Commentators

“Dillon is a classic American town filled with hard-working, middle-class Americans, who just want to lead productive, healthy lives,” they wrote. “And the women we represented on the show — the women we are in real life — are like the millions of women across the nation. Women who want to make our own health care decisions. Women who want to earn equal pay for the work we do. Women who want affordable health care.”

They go on to cite Obama’s Affordable Care Act and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act as two laws that have been beneficial to women while criticizing Romney for wanting to “throw out” the former as well as getting rid of Planned Parenthood.

“So as women, let’s take ‘Clear Eyes, Full Hearts’ back and use it as it was always intended — as a motivator for progress, power, and greatness,” Britton (who now stars on ABC’s Nashville) and Aubrey wrote. “Let’s use our clear eyes and full hearts to vote early. Let’s use our clear eyes and full hearts to tell every friend, family member and neighbor about what’s at stake for women in this election. What’s at stake for all of us. If we women make ourselves aware of the issues and make our voices heard, we most certainly cannot lose.”

The column comes on the heels of Friday Night Lights creator Peter Berg’s accusing Romney of plagiarism in a threatening letter sent to the GOP candidate’s campe.

PHOTOS: 15 of the Best Election-Themed Movies

“Your politics and campaign are clearly not aligned with the themes we portrayed in our series,” Berg wrote. “The only relevant comparison that I see between your campaign and Friday Night Lights is in the character of Buddy Garrity — who turned his back on American car manufacturers selling imported cars from Japan.”

But Buzz Bissinger, who wrote the book on which the show and movie are based and is Berg’s cousin, told THR, “I love Pete but he is being childish and petulant. He should be flattered that Romney is honoring his show. Obama tried to use the slogan as well but unsurprisingly was ineffective in getting the message across.”

Despite the criticism, Romney has not stopped using the slogan. Recently, his supporters received an email offering a red, white or blue bracelet reading, “Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. American Can’t Lose.,” with a $10 donation to the campaign.