Arnold was outstanding:

The President didn’t go into Iraq because the polls told him it was popular. As a matter of fact, the polls said just the opposite. But leadership isn’t about polls. It’s about making decisions you think are right and then standing behind those decisions. That’s why America is safer with George W. Bush as President.

He knows you don’t reason with terrorists. You defeat them. He knows you can’t reason with people blinded by hate. They hate the power of the individual. They hate the progress of women. They hate the religious freedom of others. They hate the liberating breeze of democracy. But, ladies and gentlemen, their hate is no match for America’s decency.

We’re the America that sends out Peace Corps volunteers to teach village children.

We’re the America that sends out missionaries and doctors to raise up the poor and the sick. We’re the America that gives more than any other country, to fight aids in Africa and the developing world. And we’re the America that fights not for imperialism but for human rights and democracy.

You know, When the Germans brought down the Berlin Wall — America’s determination helped wield the sledgehammers. When that lone, young Chinese man stood in front of those tanks in Tiananmen Square — America’s hopes stood with him. And when Nelson Mandela smiled in election victory after all those years in prison America celebrated, too.

We are still the lamp lighting the world — especially for those who struggle. No matter in what labor camp they slave — no matter in what injustice they’re trapped — they hear our call … they see our light … and they feel the pull of our freedom. They come here — as I did — because they believe. They believe in US.

Lileks on the Governator: "One big grinning slab of rich immigrant cheer."

Dan Rather: He "slapped Kerry around like a hockey puck."

Arnold may have drawn more viewers than Kerry's acceptance speech.

Comments Glenn Reynolds: WATCHING THE AFTERTALK, I think that Jeff Greenfield has it right -- Arnold's speech evoked optimism, and enthusiasm for America and for the common man, in a way that -- once -- was associated with liberalism but that has now become a hallmark of the Republicans.