It's a New Stage for Schwarzenegger

Almost one year after they elected Arnold Schwarzenegger, most Californians know he repealed an increase in their car tax and that he passed a budget without raising taxes. They know he reversed a decision by his predecessor that granted driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. And they know he can lift buildings off the ground, or at least they think he can.

Schwarzenegger's celebrity is still a major source of attention and goodwill, of course, but for most California voters, the shock and excitement of electing another actor-turned-governor has largely worn off. The rest of the country, on the other hand, doesn't watch him daily. Other than his "girlie men" castigation of legislators who were unwilling to vote for his budget earlier this summer, most non-Californians have heard little of him since his election.

Somewhat unfairly for a governor who gets good marks from his colleagues for taking his responsibilities seriously, Schwarzenegger's reputation east of the Sierras is still very much the caricature it was during the early days of the recall campaign, when East Coast pontificators lumped him in with Larry Flynt and Gary Coleman as an example of all that was wrong with California politics.

But next week's Republican National Convention gives Schwarzenegger the chance to redefine himself to a national audience. After years of seeing him in front of exploding vehicles in movie trailers, most Americans will see him as a working politician for the first time when he speaks at the convention.

The Bush/Cheney campaign hopes that Schwarzenegger will team with fellow centrists Rudy Giuliani and John McCain to build support for President Bush among moderate and undecided voters. And Schwarzenegger will certainly oblige them by singing the praises of the president and making the case for his reelection. (Don't expect to hear Maria Shriver's husband say one word against Bush's Democratic challenger. It's likely that a voter emerging from the wilderness to watch Schwarzenegger's address could be excused for assuming that his in-laws' party had not fielded a candidate in this election.)

But Schwarzenegger has another convention mission that's just as important: This is his chance to show the nation that he is more than just a weightlifting cartoon character or a make-believe action hero. He may be the strongest policy wonk in the room, but he's a wonk just the same. And his speech will be designed to make sure that he's taken seriously on a national stage from this point forward.