Diablog: Real-time repartee

During each convention night's keynote address, watch political analysts and keyboard comedians Peter Robinson and James Norton exchange wit and wisdom in a real-time format.

Join us each convention night at 10pm (ET).

 • Read the transcript of Monday night's Diablog, featuring commentary on John McCain and Rudy Giuliani
 • Tuesday night (Aug. 31): Arnold Schwarzenegger/Laura Bush
 • Wednesday night (Sept. 1): Zell Miller/Dick Cheney
 • Thursday night (Sept. 2): President Bush

Transcript of Tuesday night's Diablog, featuring commentary on Arnold Schwarzenegger and Laura Bush:

Josh Burek (Tue. 8/31, 10:00:34 pm ET)

Welcome to Diablog: real-time repartee. We're delighted to welcome back, from the left, James Norton, and from the right, Peter Robinson. James and Peter, good to have you here.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:01:05 pm ET)

Opening comment? Poor Maria. After imbibing a full night of Republicans, this proto-Democrat is going to need to go straight into therapy.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:01:05 pm ET)

Great to be here, Josh. Hello again, Peter.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:01:33 pm ET)

She's going to have a rough time of it as the nation's first lady.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:01:52 pm ET)

Well, there is that little matter of the United States Constitution....

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:01:53 pm ET)

(Once they get that pesky amendment through...)

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:02:06 pm ET)

Bang! One line into it, and he's on the attack.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:02:13 pm ET)

I can't believe he opened with a movie pun.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:03:00 pm ET)

He's doing a nice job, but I have to confess I've heard these opening lines before. Deductions for recycling material, do you think, James?

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:03:29 pm ET)

He's already playing the song of the American Dream. Not a surprise; it's a terrific asset. Makes him very likeable, even if he fought his way to the top in a sort of crudely Darwinian fashion...

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:03:49 pm ET)

James, you're going to have to explain this to me. He's effective, but I can't figure out why. It's not eloquence, exactly, and it's not simply star power. But what?

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:04:08 pm ET)

Is it what Rudy had? That undoubted authenticity?

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:04:09 pm ET)

Well, he is recycling in a huge national spotlight; I think he gets some slack for that. Not all 275 million Americans have heard this yet.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:04:56 pm ET)

First-hand knowledge of the evil empire and of real poverty. This is powerful stuff.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:05:05 pm ET)

Right now, yes – I think he does bring a lot of authenticity to the rostrum. It's strange that a movie star living a life that most of us can barely envision is an effective Everyman, but there you have it...

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:05:47 pm ET)

Yes, it is odd, but there you have it. There really is a kind of glorious strangeness about American presidential politics.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:05:53 pm ET)

Similar psychology explains why Americans aren't more appalled by the Bush tax cuts; 20 percent of us think we're in the top 1 percent of wealthiest people, and another 40 percent think we'll be there within a few years.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:06:29 pm ET)

James, I'm going to take a page from my hero, the Gipper, tonight: There you go again.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:06:39 pm ET)

Delusional, but gorgeous in a way, I think. Dreaming the big dreams. If not for ourselves, for our kids, and their kids.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:07:19 pm ET)

Dreaming the big dreams. A beautiful formulation, James. That's presidential politics – in both parties – when they're at their best.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:07:30 pm ET)

Arnold has to thread a careful line tonight. As long as he stays clear of gay rights, abortion, or gun control, he should do pretty well.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:08:00 pm ET)

Economics and the American Dream are going to the be turbines for this.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:08:35 pm ET)

There you have a perfectly valid point: On social issues, there are Republicans on both sides. (As opposed – can't resist this – to your party, which is so monolithically pro-choice that it never permitted a single pro-life speaker to address it's convention.)

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:09:27 pm ET)

To which, I append a quick footnote: Maria's father, Sargent Shriver, like her mother, Eunice Kennedy, are both pro-life. And they've spent a lot of energy over the last two decades protesting the Democratic Party's monolithic stand.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:09:37 pm ET)

Well, we don't have to reach out to pro-lifers as much as the GOP has to reach out to pro-choicers – most Americans support some kind of choice on the issue of abortion.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:10:26 pm ET)

There you go again: Most Americans support all kinds of restrictions on abortion, a position closer to that of the GOP than to the abortion-on-demand position of the Democrats.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:10:54 pm ET)

The irony of this speech is its overall context: It's a nominating convention for a man whose economic policies are going to make the American Dream much harder to achieve for many of the Americans in the middle and lower classes who have to fight hardest for it...

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:11:03 pm ET)

Arnold just came as close to addressing this divide as he's going to do: Disagree with the party...and you're still a very good Republican and, of course, American. Very nice.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:11:13 pm ET)

We'll be paying off the Bush Deficit for years.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:11:53 pm ET)

Disingenuous, though, don't you think? This White House has been the least tolerant of moderate disagreements from its hard line than any White House in recent history.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:12:27 pm ET)

Oh, pish. The deficit as a percentage of GDP is nothing at all out of line with the postwar average – and is much lower than it was under Reagan (under whom, note also, the economy boomed) and much, much lower than it was under FDR and Truman.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:12:58 pm ET)

If people like Schwarzenegger, McCain, Olympia Snowe, and other realists/moderates had a little more input into national policy, this would be much easier to take seriously as a symbol of the party.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:13:18 pm ET)

Ah, that's a very low blow. Democrats are NOT fierce and determined to take down terrorism?

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:13:34 pm ET)

Gee, there are moments, James, when it seems as though you live in a parallel universe. But you're much too smart and savvy and beautifully-informed to be, well, delusional. Sometime we're going to have to get togehter so you can tell me just how it is that a White House that ADORES Arnold can possibly be considered intolerant.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:15:09 pm ET)

Interesting. He really, truly is passionate about economics, isn't he? (I saw Arnold speak earlier this summer. When he spotted Milton Friedman in the audience, he came down from the speaker's platform to march right up to Milton and pay him a kind of homage.)

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:16:11 pm ET)

It's true – he's articulate on the topic, because he can afford to take a sort of Objectivist, survival of the fittest approach without looking hypocritical. He really is, in many regards, self-made.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:16:19 pm ET)

Yet ANOTHER attack on the "two Americas" of John Edwards. I preferred Rudy's humorous attack last night, but this one was effective, too, I think. Will John Edwards ever be able to give that speech again?

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:17:01 pm ET)

I think you're right – I think "two Americas" is finished, unless you're talking to economically ravaged states like Ohio, where I think it'll still resonate.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:17:40 pm ET)

Yup, I'll grant you that, too: There hasn't been a word about the poor, the ill, those who truly need help. That's a failing, I think. He really ought to have said something about how prosperity helps even the less fortunate. There is a little Ayn Randian-ness here, isn't there?

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:18:09 pm ET)

Such a simplistic statement: Make a decision. Stand by it. Presto! National security. If only that were true, anyone could be president.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:18:36 pm ET)

The latest poll I saw showed Bush up four points (if I'm remembering this correctly) in Ohio. Can that be true? Can the SwiftVets have made that much difference? Kerry has plenty of time to come back, of course, but his slippage over the last few days has been startling.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:19:10 pm ET)

You're right, of course, that there's a lot more to national security than that. But that – strength, decisiveness, even a certain willingness to see the simple and obvious – is essential.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:19:13 pm ET)

The "compassionate conservativism" of 2000 is truly buried, I think – it just hasn't been backed up by policy, and they'll get clubbed for bringing it up. Fortunately for the GOP, the war on terror is a huge mono-issue that blocks out the sun in many respects.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:20:12 pm ET)

Well, I think we're observing the textbook poll action of a presidential race – challenger ahead, challenger convention, incumbent convention, incumbent pulls ahead, some settling in September, and then a final lurch or two that settles it.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:20:14 pm ET)

To be honest? It was never very clear to me that "compassionate conservatism" had much policy content. On the other hand, Bush has spent, and spent lavishly, on domestic programs. I mean, sheesh, just take a look at education, the farm bill, and Medicare.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:21:20 pm ET)

If I were in your shoes, "Medicare" wouldn't be on the top of my list of Bush programs to tout as a success...

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:21:28 pm ET)

Here's a thought: Do you suppose the convention planners thought it would be okay for Arnold to come on so strong, just as long as he'd be balanced by the kinder, gentler speech by Laura to follow? We'll see, in other words, whether the evening achieves some sort of overall balance.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:21:51 pm ET)

It's a scandal-ridden boondoggle that could drag a lot of elderly GOP voters with it as it sinks into the swamp of history.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:22:02 pm ET)

No, man, I'm a conservative. Bush's spending – and above all the huge expansion of Medicare – doesn't please me, not remotely.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:22:49 pm ET)

I don't think Arnold has been nearly as strong or abrasive as he could have been – his rhetoric has been energetic, but it's been leavened by humor and "gee, whiz, America is great!" attitude.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:23:35 pm ET)

My suggestion is, on Medicare, that it's a sop to the pharmaceutical companies – not even a massive, un-conservative, "buy the votes of the poor through social programs" type initiative.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:23:46 pm ET)

Wow. That anecdote struck me, to be plain about it, as nutso. Some poor kid, saying he'd get himself fitted with an artificial leg...then return to combat? Anybody with any common sense would have said, "No, son, you've done enough. You go home to your family and get on with your life."

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:24:22 pm ET)

I have to admit: I love hearing Arnold talk about the immigrant experience and the American Dream. It reminds me of just how lucky we are to be here.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:24:37 pm ET)

Powerful, compelling. But I agree entirely that it has certain unappealling overtones of Ayn Randyness and "gee whizness."

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:26:05 pm ET)

Ah, the Bush girls. Woo, was that opening remark plastic.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:26:41 pm ET)

This is so awkward.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:26:51 pm ET)

Jenna's remark about her grandmother is true enough. Spent an afternoon with the Bushes (senior) in June, and she was quite frank about getting cross with the girls from time to time.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:26:55 pm ET)

I'm ashamed for my generation.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:27:08 pm ET)

The way this is going so far, Jenna should have STAYED out of the spotlight.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:27:19 pm ET)

That's four jokes in a row that fell flat.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:27:24 pm ET)

The word on the street is that Barbara Bush is quite the whip-cracking disciplinarian, overall...

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:28:13 pm ET)

It's time to sound the gong.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:28:23 pm ET)

Another joke fell flat. If this goes on much longer, I'm going to start yearning for that Kerry daughter and her story about the small-animal resuscitation. What was it, a hamster, or some such?

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:28:36 pm ET)

Exactly! Where's Chuck Barry when you need him?

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:28:56 pm ET)

It was Licorice the Hamster, and it was the story that captured America's heart.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:29:05 pm ET)

My heart, anyway.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:29:37 pm ET)

Lord knows, it captured my heart.

Josh Burek (Tue. 8/31, 10:29:50 pm ET)

Peter, you're connected to GOP operatives...which Republican humorist is getting fired tonight?

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:30:59 pm ET)

The way this is going, I'm starting to think they hired a Democratic humorist. But maybe, just maybe, there's a political purpose here? To show that the Bushes are cool, and not, as the blue America supposes about all Republicans, square?

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:31:13 pm ET)

But there's nothing less cool than fake coolness.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:31:32 pm ET)

Yikes. Now Barbara has finally moved into the "sincere" portion of the remarks, and she's delivering them just as badly as she delivered the jokes. Bring on those Kerry girls!

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:31:35 pm ET)

That Outkast reference sounded like it was cribbed from a Maureen Dowd column.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:31:47 pm ET)

Yes, yes: fake coolness is WAY uncool. This just isn't working.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:32:17 pm ET)

Thank goodness THAT'S over. Excruciating is the only word.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:32:25 pm ET)

I never thought I'd say this about GWB, but what a relief.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:32:38 pm ET)

Is this live? Must be.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:33:45 pm ET)

This makes sense: They're framing her as everything GWB isn't seen as – nonpartisan, educated, intellectually curious.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:34:01 pm ET)

He's talking too loudly. It always struck me as kind of odd: Reagan was the much older man, but he understood the medium of television much better than did Bush, Sr., and, it now appears, Bush, Jr.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:34:14 pm ET)

But she's been in high partisan mode over the past year; campaigning in swing states, attacking Richard Clarke, defending the administration's stem cell stance.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:34:51 pm ET)

All right, let's ask the obvious question right up front (although I guess we won't be able to answer it until she's finished speaking): Which do you like better? Laura or Teresa? And which will America like better?

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:35:31 pm ET)

Yes indeed: Laura is poised and pretty and seems almost like an ordinary housewife. But she's tough as steel and deeply involved in the campaign.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:35:40 pm ET)

America likes Laura Bush better. I think her unfavorables are at something like 0.2 percent. No question.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:35:57 pm ET)

Her pacing is better than Teresa's: A little faster, brighter, no?

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:36:16 pm ET)

Are you kidding? Those must be the lowest unfavorables in recorded history. That's just astonishing.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:36:34 pm ET)

No, I think they're actually at about 12.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:37:17 pm ET)

But, still, yes – America is crazy about Laura Bush. The administration has been careful to keep her in reserve, as an emergency remedy.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:37:30 pm ET)

Very nice so far. But will we get any moments that feel completely authentic? What Teresa had going for her was that nobody doubted she was truly speaking her mind.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:37:46 pm ET)

While constantly burnishing her image as a warm, gentle, thoughtful person. Which – to be totally frank – I think she probably really is.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:38:17 pm ET)

There it is: a cup of coffee, running into each other at the store. There's the explicitly feminine touch to offset Arnold's machismo.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:38:18 pm ET)

This has all been forgettable from my perspective, but we're still just reminding everyone why Laura Bush is so darn lovable.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:39:07 pm ET)

No Child Left Behind – again, the counterbalance to Arnold's make-it-on-your-own-or-get-lost attitude.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:39:48 pm ET)

I've got a number of friends who are teachers, and let me tell you: No Child Left Behind is a lot less popular out there in the field than it is with our First Lady. But I can't blame her for touting it. She's the right person to do it.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:40:08 pm ET)

Yet again, I agree (this is worrying me): There's nothing all that remarkable about the text. But what we'll remember is what Tom Wolfe calls the "residue of personality." People who have seen this will remember Laura Bush as pleasant, warm, smart, likeable.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:40:36 pm ET)

One third of the elderly think that Bush "got it done" on Medicare – did you notice the amazingly limp response to that line?

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:40:45 pm ET)

Yet again, you interest me: What is it that the teachers dislike? Not the gobs and gobs of federal funding, surely? Is it the national standards? The testing?

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:41:48 pm ET)

The limp response is pretty easy to explain, I think: The delegates are conservative, but she's talking about W's big spending, which of course iks the delegates (as it does your faithful correspondent).

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:42:21 pm ET)

As I understand it, the standards tend to punish and destroy already wounded schools, and inadequate federal support makes the whole program more damaging than helpful. But I can't really speak to this issue with great depth.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:43:08 pm ET)

I'm not sure why they're having Laura hit the national security issue. That's not really her strength. And it's already plenty humanized.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:47:29 pm ET)

Again, what is she doing talking about the liberating democratic power of American military might? This just seems like the wrong speech for her.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:48:02 pm ET)

You're right: They're hanging the entire convention on the war.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:48:11 pm ET)

Correction: The little girls in Kabul are back in school.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:49:51 pm ET)

The little girls in the rest of the country are under the thumb of warlords as enlightened as Genghis Khan.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:50:18 pm ET)

True enough. But there is hope for those little girls that didn't exist three years ago.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:51:00 pm ET)

Hmm. A sense of historical context. Democracy ain't easy, and it takes time, even in this country. This is actually quite sophisticated stuff. Much more subtle than Arnold's gee-whizism.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:51:10 pm ET)

What hope is that, precisely? That the alienated international community will forgive Bush his bloopers in Iraq and put in enough troops to reign in the warlords?

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:51:41 pm ET)

She's gone from sweet and engaging to solemn and strong by imperceptible degrees. Pretty darned impressive, all of a sudden.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:51:50 pm ET)

The sad truth is, once Doctors Without Borders can't work in a country because it's not safe enough, you're in a world of hurt. DWB works just about everywhere. They're nearly fearless, but they're not crazy.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:52:12 pm ET)

Oh, come on, you know what hope it is: That modernity has to start somewhere, and now, at the very least, it has started in Kabul.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:52:13 pm ET)

Well, that's a charming story.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:52:52 pm ET)

"His friends don't change, and neither do his values." That's the first line tonight I wish I'd written. Darned good.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:52:59 pm ET)

Somehow, the endorsement of "I married George W. Bush after knowing him for three months, and I'm still with him" is genuinely humanizing.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:53:45 pm ET)

This would be a lot more engaging and sympathetic if Bush didn't refuse categorically to attend the funerals of troops killed in Iraq.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:53:48 pm ET)

I'll slap myself for admitting this, but the two most completely engaging people in this campaign, I think, are Mrs. Edwards and Mrs. Bush.

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:54:35 pm ET)

They're both very approachable in a way no one else really is.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:54:55 pm ET)

Another beaut: "We don't hide under our desk anymore."

James Norton (Tue. 8/31, 10:55:28 pm ET)

I'm not sure Laura has done much here tonight – what do you think? Did she score any critical points?

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:57:00 pm ET)

I've only met Laura once, but she was at the same time gracious and commanding. She walked into a hotel room in which then-Gov. W and a few of us were talking about speeches, and the moment she appeared we all instantly found ourselves doing something old-fashioned, standing because there was a lady present.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:57:52 pm ET)

Did she make any critical points? No. But I do think (to put it a little crassly) that she scored points. To put it at its simplest: If that man has managed to hold onto that woman, that beautiful, tough, remarkable woman, then there must be something to him.

Peter Robinson (Tue. 8/31, 10:58:43 pm ET)

Over and out. Looking forward to another jabber tomorrow.

Josh Burek (Tue. 8/31, 10:58:24 pm ET)

Thanks again, Peter and James, for your good thoughts and good humor. We'll look forward to seeing you again tomorrow night, when we tune in to watch Zell Miller and Dick Cheney.