PHILADELPHIA The fear all week among rank-and-file delegates tothe Republican National Convention had been that Dick Cheney was solaid back and retiring that the vice presidential nominee would notserve up the partisan fare expected of the ticket's No. 2.
As matters turned out, however, the concern in George W. Bush'spolitical high command was just the opposite. Cheney, out of politicsfor the last seven years as a corporate executive, wanted tostrengthen the rhetoric even more. His wife, Lynne (who for threeyears was the resident right-winger on CNN's weekend edition of"Crossfire"), wanted it still tougher.
While less strident than the Cheneys desired, Wednesday night'sacceptance was joyously welcomed by the delegates, who had had aboutenough of the sweetness dispensed at the convention for more than twodays.
Yet, in the sober light of day Thursday, some Republican insidersworried that Cheney might have gone a shade too far in denouncingBill Clinton and seeking to tie Al Gore to him irrevocably.
The episode exposed to the party a little of what Dick Cheney isand what he is not:
He is not a 59-year-old senior citizen on the ticket solely tocapitalize on his prestige as a manager of the Persian Gulf Warwithout getting intimately involved in the political rough-and-tumble.
He is an experienced political infighter who knows the Washingtoncorridors of power from the White House to Capitol Hill to thePentagon.
He is not a running mate willing to read something handed to himby the presidential candidate's team.
He and his wife are accomplished writers, who once co-authored anexcellent history of congressional leaders (Kings of the Hill) andcollaborated on the first draft of the Wednesday night address.
He is not an outsider who will submit to a prefabricated campaignteam to guide him through the next three months as did the previoustwo Republican vice presidential candidates, Dan Quayle and JackKemp.
Cheney's 1994-2000 stint running a Dallas-based energy companymade him a multimillionaire but certainly did not stop him from beinga politician. When he arrived in Philadelphia, he quickly sat downfor an informal session with a select group of Republican operativeswho are his close friends and advisers. "He never missed a beat intalking politics with us," one of the group told me.
He did not miss a beat either in making clear that he would notaccept a campaign staff selected by the Bush organization. Cheneypicked his own people after conferring with one of his closestfriends: the legendary political consultant Stu Spencer, who nowlives in retirement in Oregon and Palm Springs, Calif.
Cheney performed poorly as stump speaker in his aborted 1993exploration of a presidential candidacy, and so expectations were lowin the convention hall Wednesday when he went to the podium. Thathelps explain why it was the best received vice presidential speechin my experience of reporting 19 national political conventions.
It was an effective address, effectively delivered-a politician'sspeech crafted by an accomplished politician. Dick Cheney is notRonald Reagan, but neither is he Spiro Agnew or Dan Quayle.
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