GOLDEN, Colo. - When you see Dick Cheney on a stage flanked by bales of hay, clad in cowboy boots and jeans, and greeting his rapturous followers with a facial contortion that oscillates between grin and grimace, you're struck by two thoughts:
First, that conservative Republicans clearly don't require their heroes to be charismatic. This guy is less animated than the cattle grazing on the nearby hills. His fans are making quite a ruckus, stomping hard on the dirt and sawdust - this happened last week, in a rodeo arena outside Denver - yet they seem unfazed by his body language, which suggests that he'd prefer to be reading memos in a secret undisclosed location.
And second, that all the recent buzz about Cheney getting dumped from the ticket now seems preposterous.
If Cheney had been nudged aside - probably for reasons of ill health - Colorado conservatives and their brethren nationwide would have gone ballistic. That would have been bad for President Bush, who is facing a tight election and an energized opposition, and therefore can ill afford to alienate his base.
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