From The Bleat:
"Now, Arnold. Odd. Either the audience is undermiked or they're 88% thrilled to see him. He's beaming, waiting for the applause to die down. It seems forced. 'This is like winning the Oscar.'
Like I would know, I say in an Ahnold voice.
'As if I would know,' he said. Or something like that. Joke two: 'True Lies' movie reference. Lame, but we have to get these out of the way. Making reference to his movies is for Arnie what referencing cheapness or violin-playing was to Jack Benny. It simply must be done. Joke three: a man said he was as good a governor as he was an actor. What a cheap shot. The delivery lacked, but it's the sort of self-deprecating thing we like from the ol' brute. Is this going to work? He can connect with millions through the lens uf de cahmera, and he's good on the stump, but maybe he's not the kind of speaker who scales well to an arena.
I love the accent: 'Medicine Square Godden.'
Okay, he gets better. A good Arnold speech is not full of subtle rhetoric, cozening shifts in vocal tone, facial nuance. It's like watching a strong man chop an oak tree: the last blow will be just like the first. (Except that after the last one, something falls on someone's head.) Very simple cadences; you could actually read this speech in a Kennedy voice, and it would sound Kennedyesque. Paging Vaughn Meader; Mr. Meader to the desk.
'Fear of the Soviet Boot.' Yep.
Holy Crow, he's just endorsed DICK FRICKIN' NIXON. Only Arnie can go to China. "