FOR a brief moment, US President George W. Bush was outshone by a fellow Republican, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the larger than life California governor who took the stage to promote Mr Bush's re-election - and his own bodybuilding event. But Schwarzenegger's message today was a most welcome one to Mr Bush. "I'm here to pump you up to re-elect President George W. Bush."
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The Hollywood tough guy assured Ohio Republicans that Mr Bush is the political tough guy to take on terrorists. "President Bush knows you can't reason with people that are blinded by hate," Schwarzenegger told thousands of raucous Bush backers at a rally in this crucial electoral state. "But let me tell you something: Their hate is no match for our decency, their hate is no match for America's decency, and it is no match for the leadership and the resolve of George W. Bush." In his lone campaign appearance with Mr Bush, the governor told raucous Republicans: "I'm here to pump you up to re-elect President George W. Bush."
Speaking in a hockey arena in Columbus, Schwarzenegger jabbed the air with a finger as the president and Laura Bush smiled behind him. He playfully wove in variations of some of his most famous lines. "We have gone through a lot, but I can tell you there is no two ways about it, America is back," he said, a play on the Terminator's "I'll be back". "America is back from the attack on our homeland, back from the attack on our economy and we are back from the attack on our way of life. If you flex your muscles November 2, I guarantee President Bush will be back."
Schwarzenegger opened his remarks in an unusual fashion for someone presenting the president. Such speakers invariably plug Mr Bush's accomplishments, not their own. But the former bodybuilder told Bush supporters he won the 1970 Mr World competition "right here in Columbus, Ohio". He has returned each year "for the most important reason of all, to come back here for the last 28 years to run the world championships in bodybuilding, the Arnold Classic, right here", he said. |