Arnold Serves Up Red Meat

CBSNews.com producer Jarrett Murphy reports from the Republican National Convention in New York.

At an otherwise quiet night at the Republican National Convention, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger enthralled the crowd with a speech that wove a compelling personal story into a declaration of Republican ideals.

There was simply nothing for delegates to dislike about the speech. It was all there, from references to his movies (True Lies should have been what the Democrats called their convention), to macho rhetoric (he panned "economic girlie men") to his rags to riches struggle.

"Everything I have — my career, my success, my family — I owe to America," Schwarzenegger, his broad frame backed by a flowing flag on the convention's jumbo television screen.

He praised the United States for destroying communism, under which he had lived. He remembered the hope American movies inspired — and specifically mentioned GOP hero John Wayne. He recalled hearing Hubert Humphrey in 1968, the year Schwarzenegger fled to the United States, and thinking that the Democrat's ideas sounded suspiciously like communism. He talked about the need to "terminate" terrorism.

In a remarkable fusion of patriotic fervor and his own background in film, Schwarzenegger told the story of a soldier he had met who lost a leg in Iraq. The young man planned to get a prosthetic leg, get some therapy and rejoin his buddies in the fight.

Of course, the soldier said, "I'll be back."

It was pure, red meat, and the delegates ate it up. When Schwarzenegger delivered a line about the United States being the chief protector of freedom in the world, not the United Nations, the crowd leapt to its feet. Chants of USA broke out.

He even found a way to address the apparent distance between moderates, like Schwarzenegger, who have taken the convention stage, and the conservative principles that dominate the party's platform.

"Maybe, just maybe," he said to immigrants who might consider themselves Republican," you don't agree with this party on every single issue. I say that's not only OK, I say it's what's great about this country. Here we can respectfully disagree and still be patriotic, still be American, still be good Republicans."

Most delegates did not note that soon after that line, a heckler in the crowd was restrained forcefully by security guards and hustled below the convention floor.

The rest of the room, though, was firmly in Schwarzenegger's hand, and he seemed to cement his already glowing reputation with the delegates.

"Encore, encore," one told a reporter when asked about the speech.

A recent CBS News/New York Times survey of Republican delegates found 74 percent of the party faithful hold a favorable opinion of the governor. Only 4 percent held an unfavorable view, and 20 percent were undecided.

If Schwarzenegger faced a test with the speech, it was reaching out to Republicans outside Madison Square Garden and other voters. According to the poll, while Schwarzenegger enjoys a 47 percent favorable rating and only 9 unfavorable rating among Republicans overall, a sizeable 43 percent said they were undecided.

But Schwarzenegger has made a habit of conquering long odds. He was, after all, a former movie star and first term governor sharing the featured speaking slots with the first lady at the national convention.

Political historians said Schwarzenegger's rapid rise up the GOP ranks had little precedent.

"It's quite a transition for him, considering the movies he's made, to be a featured speaker at the convention," said presidential historian Paul Boller. "I think it's unique."

University of Virginia political science professor Larry Sabato says going back to 1960, major convention speakers have "all been established political figures, all of them in office for a long time."

"This is absolutely meteoric," Sabato said.

Trying to explain his rise Republicans cite Schwarzenegger's moderate politics and appealing biography as his chief assets

"I think he brings a different constituency," said Larry Novak of Brockton, Mass., vice chairman of the state Republican Party. "Because of the performance that he's done in California. He's considered a moderate. He's pro-choice, he's pro gay rights, he moves more into the mainstream to take votes away."

"Here's a guy a foreigner, comes to this country, works his way up, gets into politics marries into a good family, becomes very very wealthy, takes over the state, and is really having a fantastic time accomplishing what he is trying to do, which many well-seasoned Republicans have been unable to do," Myron Arlen of Great Neck, N.Y., said.

Plus, "He is a very good businessman," his wife, Susan Arlen said.

And, notes Bay State GOP grand dame Polly Logan of Cohasset, Mass., "He's married to a Kennedy."

Surveys indicate the governor does have wide appeal. Despite his moderate credentials, most of the governor's support in CBS News polls comes from self-identified conservatives. In the California recall election, he won 48.6 percent in a crowded field, taking twice as many independent voters as his Democratic opponent.

But the question after Tuesday's speech is whether the party's moderate stars will ever wield real power in the GOP. For Schwarzenegger especially, that question is tied up with the speculation that he might have designs on the White House.

In addition to the other challenges that face any presidential hopeful (e.g., raising money, convincing voters and fending off other Republicans also eyeing the next nomination), Schwarzenegger faces a burden of historic proportions: article II, section 1 of the U.S. Constitution.

The passage states: "No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States."

Schwarzenegger, who was born in Austria, would have to see the Constitution amended before he could run.

That is no small task. Amendments require the approval of two-thirds of both houses of Congress and the legislatures in three-fourths of the states. In the past, that has sometimes taken many years to happen. But the wheels can turn very quickly: The 26th amendment took only three months from passage by Congress to ratification.

Delegates interviewed disagreed on whether the Constitution was likely to be changed to allow a Schwarzenegger candidacy, or whether it was a good idea for Schwarzenegger to declare presidential ambitions in any case. There was little doubt the California governor represents the party's future.

The question is, can a man with no legal chance to be president actually be a party leader?

"No," said Sabato," but he can be at the small table of people who have enormous influence in the party."

By Jarrett Murphy