"The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want." -- Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman"

"I am a salesman by nature. ... If I can sell tickets to my movies like 'Red Sonja' or 'Last Action Hero,' you know I can sell just about anything." -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in his 2004 State of the State address

All great politicians, of course, are at heart great salesmen -- and that certainly includes those who, because of their accomplishments, have been elevated by historians to the status of statesmen.
Franklin Roosevelt did it on radio, using his powerful, faintly patrician voice (which belied a body shriveled by polio) to persuade Americans in the throes of the Great Depression that better days lay ahead. Winston Churchill's pugnacious oratory convinced the British people to stand alone, if necessary, against the seemingly omnipotent forces of fascism. John Kennedy used television to build a vigorous and glamorous image of himself that was, we know now, largely false. Ronald Reagan's sunny optimism and steely resolve tipped the Cold War toward the West, earning him the title of "Great Communicator."

And now we have Schwarzenegger, who has officially been a politician for just a few months but who may be the most talented political pitchman since Reagan, selling himself as the savior of a dysfunctional state government.

Schwarzenegger delivered a virtuoso performance Tuesday to a tough audience: dozens of journalists during the traditional January appearance of California's governor before the Sacramento Press Club.

It was a major charm offensive. Schwarzenegger made jokes about the jokes that his speechwriters had written for him and discarded his prepared text -- or so he said. He made laugh-provoking observations about reporters' clothes but told them: "It was the press that really helped me get to where I am today." He wrote a $1,000 check to the Press Club scholarship fund.

Schwarzenegger's chief pitch was for passage of two measures on the March primary ballot, a $15 billion bond issue to refinance some of the state's budget debt, and a constitutional amendment requiring that the budget be balanced each year. And he pointedly portrayed himself as the agent of popular anger against an irresponsible and spendthrift Legislature, reiterating his demands for rapid action on the budget and the workers' compensation system.

The most crucial piece of Schwarzenegger's appearance before the Press Club -- one that could make or break him as a political communicator -- was handling questions from the audience, a task that has given heartburn to many political figures. Even Ronald Reagan's fabled communication skills failed him one year -- 1976 to be precise -- when he returned to Sacramento for a Press Club appearance. He badly fumbled on a question about American intervention in Angola, a hot topic of the day, and the gaffe echoed in the national political media for days.

Schwarzenegger aced it by smoothly, often humorously, responding to questions that ranged from his opposition to new taxes to prisons. And his reaction to a court decision this week declaring that using $4.5 million in bank loans for his campaign last fall was illegal was particularly instructive about his skills.

He could have hidden behind the fact that the Fair Political Practices Commission had approved the loans, despite a limit on how much money a candidate can loan his own campaign, but he turned the issue over, praising the decision as "fantastic" and declaring that he would repay the loans personally rather than collect money from contributors. "I always intended to pay that back myself," Schwarzenegger insisted -- although neither he nor his campaign aides had ever made that assertion in the past.

Whether he "always" had that intention or not, his declaration -- made much easier, of course, by his immense personal wealth -- probably had the political effect of burying an issue that Democrats wanted to keep alive.

At turns charming, ruthless, glib and devious -- Schwarzenegger is quite a package of political talents.