Schwarzenegger Wraps His Life Story Around GOP Themes

By Mark Z. Barabak
Times Staff Writer

September 1, 2004

NEW YORK — The Republican National Convention turned on Tuesday from accenting strength to emphasizing opportunity and compassion, as Arnold Schwarzenegger presented his improbable life story — the rise from immigrant bodybuilder to movie star to California governor — as an embodiment of the GOP and its ideals.

In an evening featuring a parade of minority speakers, as well as First Lady Laura Bush, it was the Austrian-born Schwarzenegger who offered one of the most crowd-pleasing testimonials to President Bush.

Borrowing the laconic tagline of the Terminator, perhaps his most famous cinematic character, Schwarzenegger declared: "America is back."

"Back from the attack on our homeland, back from the attack on our economy, and back from the attack on our way of life," Schwarzenegger said, standing before the image of a giant, billowing American flag.

"We are back because of the perseverance, character and leadership of the 43rd president of the United States, George W. Bush."

The two men have not had the closest political relationship. Schwarzenegger has criticized Bush as not paying enough attention to Democratic-leaning California and has kept a studied distance from his reelection effort.

But that was not easy to tell Tuesday night as Schwarzenegger, making his national political debut, warmly praised the president. The closest he came to acknowledging their difference on touchy issues such as legalized abortion and gay rights — both of which the governor supports — was a passage observing that not everyone in the party agrees on everything.

"I believe that's not only OK, that's what's great about this country," Schwarzenegger said. "Here we can respectfully disagree and still be patriotic, still be American and still be good Republicans."

Schwarzenegger's remarks offered more sweep than substance and little partisan bite for such a setting. In a 23-minute speech, he mentioned America 47 times, used the word Republican 15 times and referred to Bush by name six times.

He never directly criticized Sen. John F. Kerry, a personal friend and the Democratic presidential nominee. But he took a few humorous jabs.

"To those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say: Don't be economic girlie men," Schwarzenegger quipped, drawing a roar with a line from a "Saturday Night Live" spoof that he directed against Democratic state legislators last month.

Laura Bush, who followed Schwarzenegger on the bill, sought to humanize her husband with a peek behind the curtains as he weighed going to war against Iraq.

Recalling "some very quiet nights at the dinner table" and tense times at the White House, Camp David and the couple's Crawford, Texas, ranch, the first lady sought to refute the Democratic portrayal of a president eager to invade.

"No American president ever wants to go to war," she said. "And my husband didn't want to go to war. But he knew the safety and security of America and the world depended on it."

She took up the same role — helpmate and character witness — that her counterpart, Teresa Heinz Kerry, played at the Democratic convention last month in Boston. Laura Bush did so, however, in far more self-effacing fashion, reflecting the more traditional and reticent role she has taken toward her husband's reelection campaign.

In contrast to Heinz Kerry, who talked at length about her biography and views on empowering women, the first lady devoted almost her entire remarks to the president and his policies, including a defense of his decision to limit federal funding of stem cell research.

While critics said that had hampered the potential for medical breakthroughs, Laura Bush said her husband was the first president to provide such funding, which is controversial because the research involves destruction of human embryos.

"He did so in a principled way," she said, "allowing science to explore its potential while respecting the dignity of human life."

The first lady was introduced by the Bushes' daughters, Jenna and Barbara, and the president, who spoke via satellite hook-up from a softball diamond in south-central Pennsylvania. As it happened, it was the Pennsylvania delegation that put Bush over the top during the nomination roll call Tuesday night, though his formal nomination will take place today.

Earlier Tuesday, campaigning in Nashville, Tenn., Bush sought to douse a controversy he created the day before by telling a veterans group he believed the war on terrorism was winnable. In an interview broadcast Monday on NBC, he expressed doubt that it was winnable.

"In this different kind of war, we may never sit down at a peace table. But make no mistake about it, we are winning and we will win," the president told more than 6,000 delegates to the American Legion Convention.

Bush arrives in New York today and plans to meet with a group of firefighters and supporters in Queens. Vice President Dick Cheney will address delegates tonight.

Outside the convention Tuesday, demonstrations peaked with more than 900 arrests. Inside, Republicans continued their efforts to paint Kerry as a candidate far outside the political mainstream.

Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, the first black statewide elected official in state history, ticked off a number of votes on issues such as defense, tort reform and intelligence spending and noted that a majority of U.S. senators had voted in favor of the programs.

"But not John Kerry," he said, over and over, in a taunt taken up by cheering delegates.

For the most part, however, Republicans turned away from military themes and harsh rhetoric to offer a softer message as the national TV networks tuned in for the first time.

Inside Madison Square Garden, banners reading "A Nation of Courage" were switched to ones that said, "People of Compassion."

The events of Sept. 11, 2001, were mentioned, but not nearly as often as Monday, when the terrorist attacks and Bush's response dominated the program. On Tuesday night, the theme was caring — for immigrants, minorities, women and others striving for a higher rung on America's opportunity ladder.

Social issues that have split conservatives from the party's shrinking moderate wing — and pushed some independents and swing voters away from the GOP — received fleeting mention.

Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) offered a nod to antiabortion activists by invoking "the sacred life of 乧 those not yet born" and alluded to the roiling debate over gay marriage by defending traditional wedlock between a man and woman as "the cornerstone of civilization and the foundation of the family."

"Marriage between a man and a woman isn't something Republicans invented, but it is something Republicans will defend," Dole said to a warm response from delegates who had approved a platform that called for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

Education Secretary Rod Paige lauded Bush's record on schools, saying his No Child Left Behind law had raised academic standards, imposed accountability and provided "resources to get the job done."

"He promised results, he delivered results," Paige said. "This election may be multiple choice, but there's only one correct choice — to go forward, not back 乧 to elect a true reformer with proven results, not a Johnny-come-lately with mere promises."

Several Democrats, including Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts, voted for the president's education bill. But they now accuse Bush of breaking his promise to them by failing to couple the student testing requirements with more generous school funding.

The Tuesday night program featured a number of African American and Latino speakers, in contrast to the overwhelmingly white makeup of the audience listening from the convention floor. (Among the delegates, 16.4% are racial or ethnic minorities, the most ever at a Republican convention.)

But the choicest speaking spots — the ones reserved for the sole hour of prime-time national TV — were allotted to the first lady and Schwarzenegger, who had made only limited appearances onto the national political stage since winning office in October's historic recall vote.

His speech offered his version of "an immigrant's dream 乧 the American dream."

He recounted how he saw Soviet tanks growing up in Austria and lived in fear of "the Russian boot." He recalled watching American movies, "transfixed by my heroes like John Wayne."

He spoke of coming to America in his early 20s not knowing how to speak English and, as a champion bodybuilder, making his conversion to the Republican Party during the 1968 presidential race when he heard Richard Nixon talk of "free enterprise, getting the government off your back, lowering the taxes and strengthening the military."

Although immigration has been a controversial issue in the Republican Party — antagonizing some conservatives who believe Bush has been too eager to give legal status to those who have entered the country illegally — Schwarzenegger showed no such qualms, and made no distinction between legal and illegal immigrants.

"To my fellow immigrants listening tonight, I want you to know how welcome you are in this party," he said. "We Republicans admire your ambition. We encourage your dreams. We believe in your future."

Schwarzenegger's speech went through 19 drafts, reflecting the care that went into his maiden national campaign appearance. Still, it contained a good deal that was familiar to California audiences, including a chunk lifted from the speech he gave at the state GOP convention at the height of the recall campaign.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

The big donors

The largest industry contributions to President Bush, as of July 31, according to Dwight L. Morris & Associates:

Finance, insurance -- $17.4 million

Real estate, development -- $11.1 million

Legal, lobby services -- $11.1 million

Healthcare, social assistance -- $7.9 million

Professional, scientific, tech. -- $4.9 million

Manufacturing -- $4.4 million

Retail trade -- $2.6 million

Energy, utilities, mining -- $2.1 million

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Skittish New Yorkers

With the streets of Midtown Manhattan filled with

protesters, GOP delegates and police, it's no wonder New Yorkers have personal safety on the brain.

That means good business for Safer America, which specializes in security gear. This week, the firm sold out of "escape hoods," which are used to protect against chemical and biological weapons.

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Party tab

Private donors provided a larger chunk of money to pay for both parties' conventions, compared to 20 years ago. An increase in this year's spending is due to campaign finance reform in 2002, which limits special-interest donations to parties but not to conventions. The GOP convention's share of private funding:

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Raining Republicans

In addition to balloons and streamers that will deluge delegates during the close of the convention

Thursday night, there will be a convention first — hundreds of pounds of quarter-sized confetti with photos of the candidates and their wives.

Source: Republican National Committee

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Popularity contest

A recent poll by New York magazine showed a marked political schism between 400 New Yorkers and 400 Republican primary voters. But asked to pick between former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, respondents overwhelmingly agreed: Giuliani, 4 to 1.

Times staff writers Nick Anderson, Edwin Chen, Michael Finnegan, James Gerstenzang, Josh Getlin, Joe Heitz, Joe Mathews and David Zucchino contributed to this report.