Video: The Governator stumps for McCain
posted at 9:10 am on November 1, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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Lengthy, but worth it. Arnold Schwarzenegger gets off more than a few good lines while rallying voters in Columbus, Ohio yesterday as part of John McCain’s effort to close the deal in the Rust Belt. While Barack Obama was busying himself with the interior decoration of the Oval Office, Schwarzenegger challenged him to add some muscle to his policies:
- On his wife’s plans for trick-or-treaters: “Sounds like the usual liberal giveaway.”
- On Obama and weightlifting: “If we could only do something about putting meat on his ideas.”
- On experience: “McCain served his country longer in a POW camp than Obama has served in the United States Senate.”
- On heroism: “I just play an action hero in the movies. But John McCain is a real action hero.”
The quips don’t do this speech justice, though. About five minutes into this clip, he talks about how fortunate he was to come to America. He saw the effects of European quasi-socialist policies and knew even then that he couldn’t possibly have achieved the success he garnered in the US had he stayed on the Continent. Just when Europe has begun learning that lesson, Arnold says, Obama wants copy those same failed policies in America.
If you haven’t seen the Governator in person on the stump, it’s easy to dismiss his ability to create enthusiasm. He knows how to rally crowds, and despite his accent, he’s a very effective communicator.
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Awesome.
lodge on November 1, 2008 at 9:15 AM
I saw this at Ace. Arnie knows how to get to the point.
I notice how it is the people who come from places where Obama wants to go that articulate the danger of an Obama presidency.
Arnie, Tito, etc.
csdeven on November 1, 2008 at 9:16 AM
The greatest line was the last one:
“The Mac is back.”
gracie on November 1, 2008 at 9:17 AM
I heard 10,000 were there…..if the media gave fair coverage to this election, McCain would win 90%+ of the vote over Fauxbama.
Of course if the the media had been even close to fair it would have been McCain vs. Hillary.
Let’s roll.
ex-Democrat on November 1, 2008 at 9:17 AM
I wonder what Obama’s going to do to the Governator for calling him a girly man if he gets elected? Maybe he’ll order a Federal takeover of Cali-forn-ia and have Arnold deported to Kenya. Maybe he’ll make him live in the D-street projects – his aunt’s unit will be available soon when they move her to the High-rise on Carson beach.
TheBigOldDog on November 1, 2008 at 9:19 AM
Schwarzenegger makes the case better than McCain on economy after dema take-over.
McCain camp should have asked –
“Are you better off than you were 2 years ago”
than joining with dems saying the last 8 years were worst in his commercial.
Anita on November 1, 2008 at 9:19 AM
I laughed my ass off when he delivered that line.
Dreadnought223 on November 1, 2008 at 9:22 AM
This was awesome.
Spirit of 1776 on November 1, 2008 at 9:25 AM
Arnold was awesome. The speech was funny and effective. He not only spoke about his destitute life under socialism, but the failure and emptiness of Obama’s policies.
I just wish Arnold would have governed as a conservative. The liberals have screwed the state.
jencab on November 1, 2008 at 9:26 AM
Real nice Arnold.
Now, could you get back to California and stop destroying it with your Obama like policies. My god, you just can’t drive business out of California fast enough.
RobertInAustin on November 1, 2008 at 9:26 AM
very true. its like having Juan Hernandez on your campaign…doesn’t help. Arnie is a big-gov socialist himself.
right4life on November 1, 2008 at 9:33 AM
best line was when Arnold mentioned that McCain spent more time as a POW than obama has in the us senate
ConservativePartyNow on November 1, 2008 at 9:35 AM
Maybe Ahhhnuld should listen to this speech and start governating in California and sling the budget axe with no quarter…
phreshone on November 1, 2008 at 9:40 AM
Hank Williams Jr. rocks!
Glynn on November 1, 2008 at 9:48 AM
Arnold wasn’t “destitute,” he just wasn’t successful or going anywhere. Lets me accurate in decrying Euro-socialism. Europe isn’t Hell; it’s just mediocrity and low-ceiling existence for all (most).
ParisParamus on November 1, 2008 at 9:53 AM
He pretty much called Obama a girlie man.
Disturb the Universe on November 1, 2008 at 9:55 AM
Brother & family went to rally and said the place was full of young adults, 20-30 years old.
Bullhead on November 1, 2008 at 9:59 AM
Arnold ran as the Terminator but has Governed CA as Kindergarten Cop. Admittedly he is under EXTREME liberal pressure in this state, but still, I’m tired of watered down republicans.
Good speech though. Too bad good speaking doesn’t always translate into good governance.
pugwriter on November 1, 2008 at 10:03 AM
Darn shift key.
pugwriter on November 1, 2008 at 10:04 AM
“Obama is a scrawny little girlie man with chicken legs and flabby arms. He should come to my gym in California so that I can shout slogans at him while he works out on the abdominizer”.
Dreadnought223 on November 1, 2008 at 10:09 AM
Best line:
Great job, Terminator!
jgapinoy on November 1, 2008 at 10:16 AM
Notice Mac standing back there soaking it all up? Good for him. He’s going to piss me off a few times in the next four years, but on the whole, I believe he’ll be a fine president.
pugwriter on November 1, 2008 at 10:20 AM
That was wicked-good.
Christoph on November 1, 2008 at 10:21 AM
Thanks, Ah-nold, for bringing up the AFL-CIO’s plan for thuggery & intimidation.
jgapinoy on November 1, 2008 at 10:32 AM
OBAMMUNISM
It must be stopped.
drjohn on November 1, 2008 at 10:32 AM
Looked like just as many were in there as were in Raleigh to see That One last week. The media said “20,000-25,000″ people were there to see That One talk. It looked more like 10,00 to me, but I just live here in Raleigh so what do I know?
SouthernGent on November 1, 2008 at 10:54 AM
Great speech. I just wish he were a better governor.
irishspy on November 1, 2008 at 10:59 AM
Obama = Girly man
Hening on November 1, 2008 at 11:12 AM
It will be a joy to complain about Mac. The alternative is depressing. We don’t serve this country so that it can be turned into a socialist halfway house.
Mojave Mark on November 1, 2008 at 11:35 AM
So far, this is the only thing I know of where McCain is an improvement over Bush. Bush always hated Schwarzenegger, and would never campaign with him.
logis on November 1, 2008 at 11:46 AM
Arnold the Governator.
Tito the Builder.
Men who know why the USA is the best country on earth. As Ellisians, they chose this country over the one they were born in. While Senator Obama is not himself a Goréean, he deliberately chose to identify with them, and they are at the core of his constituency. They are victims of circumstance, born here instead of Mother Africa, the workers’ paradises of Latin America, or the enlightened multi-cultural societies of Europe.
The reason why I believe the election will turn out better than the press wants us to believe, is that fundamental difference between the two. We Ellisians are not passive victims of our history; we make history.
The Monster on November 1, 2008 at 12:04 PM
If Prop 11 passes here in CA we might be able to free it from the death grip of the liberal democrats. Arnold can do so much when the Dems have so much control. Anyway, he has not been my favorite Gov but none of them really have been. If we can stop the gerrymandering of the districts we can get more republicans in and then we can have hope. Ca is going down the tubes otherwise. Everytime I get my property tax bills they have gone up again.
This was a great and effective speech because it reminds us of why this is the greatest country in the world. Americans have it so good but it sometimes takes people who weren’t born here to help us realize it.
CCRWM on November 1, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Hasta la vista, Barry.
VanPalin on November 1, 2008 at 12:58 PM
My brother’s father in law owns a very successful construction and gravel co. He pays his employee’s well and gives them good benefits but still they were talked into trying to unionize. He called them all together, told them how he has toiled hard and risked so much to make the Co what it was but the minute they voted to unionize his Co he would shut it dowm. He was worth over $100 million he didn’t need to keep the Co. They knocked it off.
CCRWM on November 1, 2008 at 12:58 PM
Now that rocked. No mention of being a maverick, just that McCain is the man for the job. More please.
raz0r on November 1, 2008 at 1:04 PM
My husband and I moved to CA from Indiana two years ago. From what I knew about how screwed up California was before Arnold took over, I really think people are not being fair to Arnold. As with other Governors of liberal states, he can only do so much. He is a social liberal — you just have to accept that about him — but at least he’s taken his job seriously. He stayed in CA to work on the budget, he’s tried to address CA’s deteriorating infrastructure. I think he’s an ethical politician who has tried to make the legislators more accountable. He was the best we could do at the time.
The key thing is who the Republicans put up to run in 2012. They need to be smart about it and choose the most electable conservative they can find.
Y-not on November 1, 2008 at 1:14 PM
My wife and I went to this rally at Nationwide Arena, and it definitely was full. They were opening up new sections of seating right up until the time the Straight Talk Express pulled up into the arena.
The Governator was on fire. I’m surprised he’s not sleeping on the couch after taking Maria to task for distributing too much candy to trick-or-treaters, calling it a “typical liberal giveaway”. Funny stuff.
If there was one thing I would wish from McCain, it’s to have him listen to his warmup speakers, like Schwarzenegger and Palin. They attack Obama on lots more “red meat” issues than McCain does. The McCain speech was pretty much standard stump-speech boilerplate (but I’m on Hot Air a lot, so I’ve heard almost every talking point before). He did hit the Bill Richardson $120,000-is-middle-class quote pretty hard, though, and good for him.
Tweets I sent during the rally on http://www.twitter.com/GoHskrs.
GoHskrs on November 1, 2008 at 1:35 PM
This was awesome! Being a Ca. resident. I know I have knocked Arnold. But, he has to fight the Democrats. He has done some great things lately. Made the State employees take a pay cut. So many of them are not fit to be in their jobs. Also, he had to make the County take a few weeks off with no pay. They agreed, knowing that Arnold has a point. This video made me cry. This is the man that we saw when he ran. He does mean what he says. He did a beautiful job in Ohio. I love his points and jabs. Thank you for posting this. I forwarded it to my friends. Notice the people there? They were all of different cultures. All were glowing with hope! Can’t wait till Tuesday! McCain all the way!!!!!
sheebe on November 1, 2008 at 2:24 PM
Wow!!!
Now if he would only talk like that to the folks here in the PRC, he might get us conservatives fired up enough to actually help him out. There are so many closet Republicans in the state that feel they will never see any change, so they just lie low. I recently found out that my county is a republican strong hold, but the majority don’t vote. I figured it was a democratic county because of the way the voting went. Come on Arnie, speeches like that can make a difference both Nationally and locally.
N4646W on November 1, 2008 at 2:29 PM
I was there. The arena holds 18,000 and it was pretty full. I heard on the radio today that there were 15,000 there. The crowd was surprisingly really young. I was on the floor with hundreds of college age kids. I talked to a lot of them and they told me that they have a lot of friends who are voting for McCain. I left feeling pretty positive about McCain’s chances here in Ohio.
I did get to see a few loony liberals outside of the arena. One lady had a sign that said Ohio can’t afford another Republican, she looked like she couldn’t afford soap.
Erockk on November 1, 2008 at 5:11 PM
CCRWM on November 1, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Y-not on November 1, 2008 at 1:14 PM
+1 +1
silverfox on November 1, 2008 at 7:14 PM
Exasperation and good natured griping is much to be preferred to horror and wailing lament.
Come on, Mac, win win win win win win…
Count to 10 on November 2, 2008 at 10:14 AM
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