Blumenthal: Dubya doesn't do nuance, Arnie does - but even he lets his sl

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Dubya doesn't do nuance, Arnie does - but even he lets his slip show

Dangerous confusion threatened the Republicans on the second day of their convention. In an interview on the NBC Today Show, President Bush was deferentially asked about the war on terrorism. "I don't think you can win it," he replied. For hours afterwards, his campaign issued bulletins to say he hadn't meant it.

Finally, appearing before the American Legion veterans in Nashville, Bush declared: "We will win."

Bush's mistaken nuance set the stage for the larger-than-life persona of Conan the Barbarian, Predator, The Terminator, Commando, and, not least, Kindergarten Cop. "This is like winning an Oscar, as if I would know," said Arnold Schwarzenegger, governor of California.

Schwarzenegger is the only political figure in America who is married to the Kennedys and is an old Bush family retainer. His ability to operate in several dimensions at once is intrinsic to his rise. In 1988 he campaigned for the elder Bush. "They call me The Terminator, but, when it comes to America's future, Michael Dukakis is the real Terminator," he said.

For that he was made the president's fitness adviser and appeared at the White House to direct Colin Powell (then General Powell) in push-ups on the South Lawn.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/comment/story/0,14259,1295337,00.html