USTIN, Texas - George W. Bush strode purposefully into the State Capitol about 7:45 a.m. yesterday, ready to start work on a new White House administration even as he told aides to continue calling him ''governor'' instead of ''Mr. President-elect.''
Beyond semantics, the question of what to call Bush illustrated the delicate task he faces in the coming days: The Texas governor is eager to cement the image of a president-in-waiting, highlighted by an early-morning meeting with Andrew H. Card, his choice for White House chief of staff. But, with the continuing, though diminishing, uncertainties about the election outcome, he doesn't want to seem to presume too much.
So Bush did not immediately name members of a Cabinet. But Republican aides said he will probably appoint Colin Powell as secretary of state, and is considering a raft of GOP governors, including Paul Cellucci of Massachusetts, for top administration posts. There is also discussion of a novel appointment for commerce secretary: someone from the e-commerce or Internet sector.
Powell, a retired Army general who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is said to want his appointment held until Vice President Al Gore's challenge to the election is resolved.
For his part, Card said in an interview that he was ''a little surprised'' when Bush asked him to head the White House staff on the day after Election Day.
''He said, `I have got a big job for you, would you be interested in doing this?''' recalled Card, a former state representative from Massachusetts and US transportation secretary. ''I have tremendous respect for Governor Bush. I was privileged to work with him at the Republican convention. I believe that if a president or a near-president asks you to do something, you do it.''
The continuing Florida battle has also crimped Bush's ability to plan a transition to the office he expects to ultimately win.
The General Services Administration, the federal agency that supports a transition, has cited the ongoing court fights in refusing to give either Bush or Gore access to the offices or $5.3 million it has reserved to support the incoming administration.
Bush's running mate, Dick Cheney, yesterday announced the campaign will set up a privately funded office in Washington during the interim. It will be supported with private donations, but will not accept corporate or political action committee money, said Cheney, who is heading the Bush transition effort.
He also announced that Clay Johnson, Bush's former classmate from Phillips Academy in Andover, , roommate at Yale University, and chief of staff in Texas, will be the transition's executive director.
''There's been a tendency, I think, for many people to believe that there is `plenty of time' before we begin to pay any kind of a price for the delay in certifying a winner in the Florida election,'' Cheney said in Washington. ''That may be true, if one looks only at the timetable for the Electoral College, but we will pay a heavy price for the delays in planning and assembling the next administration.''
He said the quality of a transition affects the people who will be chosen and the administration's ability to advance its agenda. More importantly, Cheney said, a delay could affect ''the ability of the new team to deal with that first crisis when it arises, as it inevitably will.''
Noting the closeness of the election, Cheney hinted that Bush may choose both Democrats as well as Republicans for an administration. ''The nation is, if anything, evenly divided, if you will. We're certainly cognizant of that, and I would expect that the decisions the governor makes will certainly take those considerations into account,'' he said.
Aides inside and outside the Bush camp said the governor would try to build a team from several sources.
The first, as evidenced by his picks of Cheney, Card, and possibly Powell, is the administration of his father, President Bush. Cheney served as the elder Bush's defense secretary, while Powell served as his armed forces leader and Card served as his deputy White House chief of staff and transportation secretary.
Another likely source Bush will tap for talent is the nation's corps of Republican governors.
''My guess is conceptually you're going to see a lot of governors in the administration, because of an honest ideological belief that good ideas, new ideas come from the states, and what he wants to do is emulate in Washington what he believes folks in the states have done,'' said a Republican aide.
Cellucci is mentioned as a possible transportation chief or ambassador to Italy, although his background could also fit the needs of housing, commerce, energy, education, or environmental departments.
The governor was on a trade mission in Japan yesterday, but his political director, Rob Gray, said: ''He's very happy with his job here in Massachusetts and is reenergized given his victory in the (state) income tax cut, but he has said that if the president of the United States wants to discuss serving at the national level, any governor would have to listen and seriously consider that.''
Other possible choices are governors Marc Racicot of Montana, Frank Keating of Oklahoma, James Gilmore of Virginia, Edward Schafer of North Dakota, Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin, John Engler of Michigan, Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania, George Pataki of New York, and Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey.
A third source for administration members is Bush's team in Texas and those who have helped advise him during the campaign or raise the needed money.
Condoleezza Rice, Bush's foreign affairs adviser, is expected to be national security adviser. Lawrence Lindsey, Bush's chief economics adviser and a former Treasury official, is mentioned as chairman of the National Economic Council and a possible replacement for Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan when his term ends in 2004.
Possible Treasury picks include California financier Gerald Parsky or Donald B. Marron, chairman and chief executive officer of Paine Webber Group Inc.
Karen P. Hughes, who has been Bush's communications director, is expected to play a similar role in the White House. Donald Evans, his campaign chairman, is expected to fill an advisory role, although the Texas oilman is also mentioned as a possible Energy secretary.
Karl Rove, Bush's chief political strategist, is expected to have the title ''counselor to the president.''
While the disputed election and potential for testy confirmation hearings might lead Bush to tap members of Congress for his team, the narrow Republican majority in the House and the probable 50-50 split in the Senate after Washington state's election is settled may force Bush to look elsewhere.
Michael Kranish of the Globe Staff contributed to this report from Washington.
