HILADELPHIA - ''Bill Clinton.''
With those two words last night, Dick Cheney became the first speaker at this determinedly nonconfrontational Republican National Convention to take on the president directly.
He also signaled, in a somber speech accepting the party's vice presidential nomination, that he is ready to serve as George W. Bush's principal defender during the general election campaign.
''When I look at the administration now in Washington, I am dismayed by the opportunities squandered, saddened by what might have been but never was,'' the former Wyoming congressman and defense secretary said.
''These have been years of prosperity in our land, but little purpose in the White House,'' Cheney said. ''Bill Clinton vowed long ago to hold onto power `until the last hour of the last day.' That is his right, but, my friends, that last hour is coming, that last day has neared.''
Then, reprising Al Gore's famed line from the 1992 Democratic National Convention, he declared: ''The wheel has turned, and it is time. It is time for them to go.''
Cheney repeated the line twice, and the crowd chanted it several times more.
Joe Andrew, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, responded by saying: ''Instead of moving America forward and building on the prosperity of the last eight years, Cheney and Bush want to turn the wheel 180 degrees in reverse and take this country back to the days of record deficits, unemployment and missed opportunities.''
Cheney's red-meat attack was a departure from the first half of the convention, when Bush and his campaign team carefully unveiled a moderate tone with an appeal to minority voters, a pledge to rebuild schools, and a promise to rebuild the nation's military might.
After being introduced by his wife, Lynne, the normally mild-mannered Cheney responded to a recent barrage of Democratic attacks on his conservative voting record with a fusillade of condemnation for Clinton and Gore.
''For all their sentimental talk about children, Clinton and Gore have done nothing to help children oppressed by bureaucracy, monopoly, and mediocrity,'' he said.
''For eight years, Clinton and Gore have talked about Social Security reform, never acting, never once offering a serious plan to save the system,'' Cheney added. ''For eight years, Clinton and Gore have extended our military commitments while depleting our military power.''
He then brought down the house by saying: ''And now, as the man from Hope goes home to - New York, Mr. Gore will try to separate himself from his leader's shadow. But somehow, we will never see one without thinking of the other.''
Speaking in terms reminiscent of his nightly briefings during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Cheney declared: ''This campaign will not be easy. Governor Bush and I face a real fight. We're ready for it. We know the territory, we know the opposition, and we know what's at stake. We will give all to this cause. And in the end, George W. Bush will defeat this vice president, and I will replace him.
The speech marked a return to the political spotlight for Cheney, who was White House chief of staff under President Ford by age 34 but who has spent the last five years as head of a $9 billion oil service conglomerate, the Halliburton Co. in Dallas.
Bush asked Cheney to head the search for his running mate in April. Last month, the Texas governor ended up selecting Cheney. Cheney began his 32-minute speech, which he largely wrote, by paying tribute to Ford, hospitalized earlier in the day after suffering a stroke. ''I wouldn't be here tonight if it wasn't for the trust and confidence he placed in me 25 years ago,'' Cheney said.
Turning to his text, he began: ''I have to tell you that I never expected to be in this position. ... But now I am back in the arena, and let me tell you why: I have been given an opportunity to serve beside a man who has the courage and the vision and the goodness to be a great president, Governor George W. Bush.''
Among those in the convention hall was Bush's father, former President Bush, who plucked Cheney from the House of Representatives in 1989 and appointed him defense secretary. In that role, Cheney achieved his greatest fame, serving alongside Generals Colin Powell and Norman Schwarzkopf to assemble the 28-nation coalition that defeated Iraq after it invaded Kuwait.
In an indirect swipe at Clinton, Cheney said:
''I have been in the company of leaders. I know what it takes. And I see in our nominee the qualities of mind and spirit our nation needs and our history demands. Big changes are coming to Washington.''
