OLUMBUS, Ohio - When George W. Bush gives his acceptance speech at the Republican convention on Thursday, it will mark the most important moment in his political life.
It will also be past his bedtime.
That seemingly trivial coincidence has become a source of concern for the Bush entourage, who know well that the candidate's sometimes awkward speech can become even more tangled when he has not had enough sleep. Bush aides, well aware of the importance of the moment and the needs of the candidate, are in fact to schedule Bush for an afternoon nap.
Aides deny that they have been purposely keeping the Texas governor on a lighter schedule in recent days in order to give him rest. Although Bush held only one public event on Sunday and two yesterday, communications director Karen Hughes said that, outside of public view, he had ''a pretty busy schedule.''
But the intensity surrounding the campaign has lessened significantly since Bush named Dick Cheney his running mate last week, and it appeared from the public schedule during the past few days that he was pacing himself, much as he did in the early days of the Republican primaries.
On Sunday, after staging one rally and rehearsing his 38-minute speech in a friend's living room, Bush was the first to excuse himself from dinner in order to retire to bed around 9 p.m. Under normal circumstances, Bush is asleep around 9:30 p.m., Hughes said. His convention speech will begin after 10 p.m.
Bush picked up the pace somewhat yesterday, holding one rally in Dayton, Ohio, and another in Columbus. He also stayed up to watch his wife kick off the Republican convention at 10:15 p.m., and to make a few short remarks himself.
But with all eyes on Thursday night - when Bush will make the most important speech of his career to the largest audience ever to tune him in - the candidate is limiting his daily calendar to a few large events carefully staged for television. And his aides aren't taking any chances. Asked whether she was concerned that the timing of Thursday's speech might be hard on Bush, Hughes said: ''We hope he'll have time for a nap Thursday afternoon. It's a late night, but he's been looking forward to this moment and he intends to make the most of it.''
At two events yesterday, Bush drew sizable and enthusiastic crowds, delivering his usual stump speech with minor adjustments that hinted at what his convention speech might sound like. He also attracted his first real counterdemonstrations by Gore supporters. At least two dozen - most of them union workers - shouted loudly during a speech in Dayton, and about 50 Gore supporters chanted and cheered on the sidewalk outside his event at the State House in Columbus.
Bush appeared not to notice, however, and aides seemed pleased at the size of the crowds, especially given that it was the first day of campaigning in a swing district. Although he claimed to be on a ''battleground tour'' of key states, Bush has confined most of his recent campaigning to mainly conservative areas since embarking on his Philadelphia-bound journey last Friday.
As of yesterday afternoon, Bush had practiced his convention speech four times, twice using a teleprompter. During the rehearsal Sunday - which took place in front of a dozen close friends, including former business partner William O. DeWitt; his wife, Kathie; fund-raiser Mercer Reynolds III; and his wife, Gaby - several of the attendees cheered, Hughes said.
''It was very reassuring,'' Hughes said. ''I know what the applause lines are supposed to be. They didn't, and they applauded.''
Still, the content of the speech is only one part of the effort to bring his convention appearance to perfection. Bush also has been testing a more exuberant style, which he may bring out in full during the Thursday appearance.
And then there is the matter of his sleep. Bush has long treasured his private time, reserving time to go running and avoiding events that run late at night. He faced criticism while campaigning during the New Hampshire primary from voters who felt he was too laid-back; yet when he did hit the trail hard, campaigning for more than 14 hours on one particular day, Bush made one of his most memorable verbal missteps.
At an appearance in Iowa on Jan. 21, Bush told the audience: ''When I was coming up, it was a dangerous world, and we knew exactly who the `they' were. It was us versus them. And it was clear who `them' was. Today, we're not so sure who the `they' are. But we know they're there.''
And Hughes's explanation at the time was one she does not seem eager to repeat: ''That's how we talk in Texas when we're tired.''
