OUISVILLE, Ky. - After less than a week in the spotlight with his running mate, George W. Bush yesterday conceded that Dick Cheney is not yet up to full speed on the campaign trail, and said it was clear the two have ''a different campaigning style.''
''He's warming up,'' Bush said during a flight from Missouri to Kentucky. ''This fellow has been in the private sector for a while, and hasn't been on the campaign trail.''
But, the Texas governor added, ''he's an accomplished campaigner. He got elected statewide in the state of Wyoming four or five times, I think six times, if I'm not mistaken.''
The characterization of Cheney - who was highly articulate in his four public appearances last week but failed to inspire the same enthusiasm as Bush - came amid renewed criticism by Democrats that the GOP vice presidential candidate had unsavory ties to the oil industry.
Democrats dug out a remark Cheney made in 1999 applauding the OPEC decision to slash oil production, which contributed to this year's higher prices.
''I've been struck by the extent OPEC seems to have gotten its act together. ... A certain amount of near-term optimism is justified,'' Cheney said at the time.
A Gore spokesman said the statement by Cheney - who until Aug. 16 will be the chief executive officer of Halliburton Co., a giant oil-services company - was ''further evidence that a Bush-Cheney ticket would turn the Oval Office into the oil office.''
In response, the Bush campaign said that oil prices were low at the time and that Cheney was promoting Halliburton to other businessmen. The campaign found a comment by Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, a Gore ally, who said at the same time, ''We feel that lower oil prices are good for consumers, but we recognize they can have a negative impact domestically on some of our friends like Venezuela and Mexico.''
So far, the Democratic attacks do not seem to have stuck. Several polls in the past few days have shown Bush and Cheney pulling further ahead of Gore, who plans to name his running mate on Aug. 8.
And despite a day of obstacles - including pouring rain and the breakdown of a Bush press plane carrying dozens of reporters - the Texas governor appeared more invigorated at each stop. Greeting enthusiastic crowds in Owensboro, Ky., Louisville, and Cincinnati, Bush basked in his popularity - and in waves of confetti the campaign introduced last week.
Bush has scheduled campaign stops in Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania before arriving Wednesday in Philadelphia for the Republican National Convention.
Bush plans to use his speech at the convention to appeal directly to Democrats and independents, The New York Times reported in today's editions. The newspaper quoted the candidate as saying he would send ''a broadened message'' in a low-key manner, understanding that the pitch might unsettle conservatives.
The Bush family is planning to play a significant role at the convention. In a conversation with reporters yesterday morning, Bush spoke in particular about his father, denying the conventional wisdom that the former president serves as a career counselor or is trying to reestablish the Bush dynasty.
''I'm mindful of the Adams family factor,'' Bush said, referring to John Adams and John Quincy Adams, the only father-son duo ever to win the presidency. ''It wasn't all that long that he'' - the elder Bush - ''himself was the president of the United States, which will make the story unique and different.''
Bush continued: ''He is a dad first and foremost. ... This man is not a political consultant. And the advice I get from him is the advice a dad would give a son. It is comforting. And so I will approach the moment with a lot of feeling and a lot of emotion, recognizing that there's going to be a lot of people watching, with my family, which means more to me than anything, will be there, including my wife and children, by the way.''
Despite his optimism, Bush declined to dwell on a battery of new polls, including a Time magazine poll that showed Bush widening his lead over Al Gore to 16 percentage points and a Newsweek poll that shows him leading Gore 47 percent to 40 percent.
Alluding to his lopsided defeat in the New Hampshire primary, where he had predicted victory, Bush yesterday said he was ''not going to get overconfident.''
''I know what can happen,'' Bush said. ''I've seen polls crumble. I have seen defeat firsthand.''
Material from the Associated Press was included in this report.
