PRESTOPUNDIT -- "It's a team sport, baby!"

Schwarzenegger impressions:

This is a man of conviction -- a man with genuine faith in California, democratic government, a free society and the American people.

This is a man of passion -- a man with passionate concern for young people, for working families, and for the land of his dreams.

This is a man who wants to get things done -- he wants nothing less than to break the back of the politicians and special interests -- and reconnect the people of California with their government and their state.

In Schwarzenegger's presentation you heard the heart of the young man who came to the Golden State to pursue his dreams -- and the mature and fair-minded grownup who understands how a democracy functions and respects the honorable contribution of his peers in the political arena.

And you also got the sense of the firm drive of a man setting about accomplishing the task at hand -- a man who understands that winning is righteous, something deserved, it's not, as Gray Davis might believe, just about winning.

And in all of these things Schwarzenegger is the genuine heir of Ronald Reagan -- but surprising as it might seem, in all of these things (except for perhaps the last) Schwarzenegger seem more genuine than Ronald Reagan -- more deeply passionate, more deeply connected with his convictions.

Perhaps this reflects nothing more than the fact that Ronald Reagan's passions came so naturally to him -- as a sort of birthright -- while for Schwarzenegger they were and are the emotional choices of a man who has adopted a dream -- and who in turn has been adopted by the people of that dream.

Posted by Greg Ransom