You can take Arnold Schwarzenegger out of Hollywood, but you can't take the Hollywood out of Arnold.
The California governor took to Madison Square Garden Tuesday night for a keynote speech endorsing President George W. Bush--and, predictably, pulling out a few old movie lines to pump up the partisans.
The GOP's biggest celebrity landed a key prime-time slot at the Republican National Convention. Upon taking the stage to a thunderous ovation, Schwarzenegger cracked, "What a greeting. This is like winning an Oscar! As if I would know!"
He took a swipe at the Kerry campaign, comparing the Democrats' convention to the title of one of his blockbusters, True Lies.
Schwarzenegger then went to the Terminator well several times. He quoted a wounded soldier as telling him, "Arnold, I'll be back." Then he said, "America is back! Back from the attack on our homeland, back from the attack on our economy, back from the attack on our way of life!"
Taking aim at terrorists the way he took aim at celluloid villains, Schwarzenegger added: "If you believe we must be fierce and relentless and terminate terrorism, then you are a Republican!"
And the hits kept on coming. He borrowed a refrain from the classic Saturday Night Live "Hanz & Franz" skit that famously parodied his own muscle-bound image. "To those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say: 'Don't be economic girlie men!' "
(It's the second time in recent weeks he's pulled out the "girlie" talk, having used the line to bash Democratic opposition during California's heated budget battle.)
Arnold was nearly as galvanizing as Michael Moore, who's covering the convention for USA Today.
During remarks on Monday's opening night, Arizona Senator John McCain took a swipe at Fahrenheit 9/11 director, calling Moore a "disingenuous filmmaker who would have us believe that Saddam's Iraq was an oasis of peace."
In a scene that was replayed ad nauseum on the cable news shows, delegates instantly booed the gadfly, who was sitting in a press box. Moore waved his arms, held up two fingers and shouted, "Two more months," the time left until the election.
"Thank you, John McCain," Moore later told the New York Daily News. "The film's doing $120 million right now. When McCain mentions it, I have a chance to do $150 million."
The writer-director noted in his USA Today op-ed that McCain hadn't seen the movie, and said the senator admitted as much in an interview with Chris Matthews afterward on MSNBC's Hardball. Moore said McCain turned the whole affair into the Ebert and McCain Show. And despite the boos, the director says he won't miss a minute of the convention, which runs through Thursday.
Moore also led the massive pre-convention United for Peace and Justice protest that took place Sunday in which hundreds of thousands of protesters marched on Madison Square Garden. He was joined by Danny Glover and the Reverend Jesse Jackson. (Rosario Dawson was arrested nearby while shooting a movie.)
While Schwarzenegger is the biggest celeb at the RNC, he's not the only one. Ron Silver, a fervent supporter of the Iraq War, spoke to delegates Monday, chiding fellow performers for being on "the frontlines to protest repression," but being the first to oppose the use of force when it's necessary.
Also turning up to support the GOP: Stephen Baldwin, who reportedly became a born-again Christian after 9-11, Brooks & Dunn, Lee Ann Womack, Sara Evans and rising popster Dana Glover, who's also performing.
And, according to an item on the Drudge Report, Mel Gibson is ready to stir up some party passion and grace a dinner for California delegates Wednesday night, but he's not expected to appear on the convention floor.