Dubya Doesn't Do Nuance, Arnie Does

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."

Vice-President Dick Cheney helpfully explained: "The president certainly never intended to convey the notion that we can't win."

By breaking his own iron law - "I don't do nuance" - Bush had blurred himself into the negative image of John Kerry as a flip-flopper.

Nuance leads to ambivalence, which can lead to inaction; and who then can be an action hero?

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.

Schwarzenegger's policies as governor- pro-gay, pro-choice, pro-environmental - have little in common with Bush's, and he has no chance of carrying his state for Bush. As a principal speaker on "People of Compassion" night, his role as supporting actor was to transfer his image to Bush and the party.

Arnold has an aesthetic sense that passes over the heads of the Republicans. No matter how scripted he may be, he remains pure in his underlying message. He makes the case for the narcissism of power through the power of narcissism.

No one is more narcissistic than the body builder. He builds his reputation standing before mirrors.

Schwarzenegger offered the Republican convention totemic worship of virility borne out of fear of its fading. It was an act he has been perfecting for decades. In its essence, he offered a sexual identity panic speech.

He told of being a "once scrawny" boy in Austria daydreaming about becoming an American, inspired by John Wayne movies. In 1968 he arrived, during a presidential campaign. "Listening to Nixon speak ... I said to my friend, 'What party is he?' 'He's a Republican.' I said: 'Then I'm a Republican.'"

He offered the flattery of the immigrant to the native: "Everything I have, my career, my success, my family, I owe to America."

Having established his citizenship, Schwarzenegger felt entitled to articulate the Republican credo - power over weakness. "If you believe this country, not the UN, is the best hope for democracy, then you are a Republican." Thus the immigrant blasted internationalism.

"If you believe that we must be fierce and relentless and terminate terrorism, then you are a Republican." Thus the Democrats were soft.

"And to those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say: Don't be economic girlie-men." "Girlie-man" is a peculiar accusation. It reveals fear of women and their complex values. The name-calling is a frantic effort to suppress nuance, which the action hero fears he may harbour within.

Sidney Blumenthal is a former senior adviser to Bill Clinton, and the Washington bureau chief of salon.com