Republican Convention

PHILADELPHIA -- Abruptly abandoning the campaign's positive tone, Dick Cheney claimed the second spot on the Republican ticket last night with a stinging assault on the "squandered" opportunities of the Clinton-Gore years. After two days in which Al Gore's name wasn't mentioned from the stage, Gov. George W. Bush's mild-mannered running mate fed his party a heaping portion of anti-Gore rhetoric. His acid words, coolly delivered in a conversational tone, unleashed a gusher of pent-up fervor when he reminded the convention crowd that Clinton and Gore's term would soon be ending.

PHILADELPHIA - Abruptly abandoning the Bush campaign's positive tone, Dick Cheney claimed the second spot on the Republican ticket last night with a stinging assault on the "squandered opportunities" of the Clinton-Gore years. After two days in which Al Gore's name was rarely mentioned from the podium, Gov. George W. Bush's mild-mannered running mate fed the conservative crowd a heaping portion of anti-Gore rhetoric. His acceptance speech sent the clearest signal yet that the Bush campaign plans to make Clinton at least as much of a target as Gore in the general election campaign.

PHILADELPHIA - Ellen Sauerbrey was tardy for breakfast with the Maryland delegation of the National Republican Convention yesterday morning, later than planned, that is. And if that doesn't seem like news, well, there's a lot to be learned about modern-day political conventions. This convention, this city, has all the spontaneity of a Catholic wedding. As for planning, the Persian Gulf War had nothing on this event, where everyone is choreographed like a line of Rockettes who have supplemented years of double-shift training with hyper-hypnosis.

PHILADELPHIA - On a night devoted to honoring heroes from America's past, a coming theme of the fall campaign resounded through the Republican convention: the character issue. Texas Gov. George W. Bush received the unqualified support of Sen. John McCain, who echoed other speakers last night in praising the integrity of the man who will be formally nominated tonight. "Too often, those who hold a public trust have failed to set the necessary example," said McCain, in the evening's major address.

NEW YORK - More than 100,000 protesters took to the streets yesterday in angry but peaceful opposition to President Bush and the war in Iraq, on the eve of a Republican convention at which Bush hopes to convince undecided voters that he deserves a second term. With American flag-draped mock coffins and signs bearing anti-Bush slogans, marchers clogged Manhattan's Seventh Avenue and overflowed onto side streets. Lining those streets were scores of police and security personnel - some in riot gear - girding for protest-related violence in a city already on high alert for a terrorist attack during the convention.

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele called John McCain a leader who "understands the life lessons of those who sacrifice" last night during a Republican convention address that included a plea for voters to "put your country first." Steele introduced a convention hall and television viewers to his mother, Maebell Turner, for the second time in four years. Last night, he called Turner "a sharecropper's daughter who throughout her life suffered many hardships" but who instilled in him "the ideal of putting family, community [and]

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Deprived of sleep and the chance to change his clothes, Michael S. Steele landed here Sunday night and was whisked to the cavernous Fox News tent at the Republican convention for yet another national television appearance. The former Maryland lieutenant governor hugged Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and bumped fists with conservative commentator Sean Hannity as he took his seat on an elevated, red-carpeted stage. Clad in linen slacks and a purple shirt beneath his blazer, Steele delivered the kind of smooth defense of John McCain that has made him a regular on the network.

It's not a teachers' strike this time. The political leaders of Maryland walked out on the school children of Baltimore.Chicago is a toddling town. Those Democrats will get out there and toddle.This is the first time that the model for a Democratic convention is the preceding (yawn) Republican convention.Pravda is gone. It's hard to know what to disbelieve.Pub Date: 8/26/96

At least George will never bore you to death like Al. He does not know more than five minutes' worth on any subject. But George better think twice about running against Bill. Bill would only win again. There is no more effective antidote to a good Republican convention than a bad John Waters movie. The problem was the relief pitching staff, so they got rid of Johnson, Border and Surhoff, and kept most of the relief staff.