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Morning News

Gallup Poll: Cheney's V.P. Selection Draws 55-Percent Favorable Reaction

Aired July 25, 2000 - 10:01 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We begin this morning with the latest news from election 2000. Republican presidential contender George W. Bush has made his choice for a running mate. We have learned that Bush has asked former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney to take the job, and Cheney has accepted. An official announcement planned for later today, in fact this afternoon, 3:00 Eastern time.

While we wait for that, we go to CNN's Charles Zewe, standing by live in Dallas, Texas, outside of Cheney's home.

Hey, Charles, are you waiting for a word behind you there?

CHARLES ZEWE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Actually, we are waiting, Bill, for Dick Cheney to back out -- at least we think he might be backing out on his way either down to work or to take the flight down to Austin to meet with Governor Bush. There has been very little activity here at the Cheney estate. We're actually at his garage door here in the Highland Park area of Dallas.

The call here to the house came at about 6:22 Central time, 7:22 Eastern time this morning. from Governor Bush at the governor's mansion down in Austin. Governor Bush officially offering Mr. Cheney, who is 59, the spot as the vice presidential nominee on the Republican ticket. You can see the reporters, photographers, all gathered outside the gates here, which we expect may be opening soon. We don't know because we haven't been told.

A little earlier this morning -- in fact, about an hour, Liz Cheney-Perry, Dick Cheney's daughter, came out to take some pictures of the assembled photographers and reporters, and said she thought her father was a wonderful man and that Governor Bush was a wonderful man too, as she made her way through the small throng of reporters gathered here.

Mr. Cheney, of course, had been the head of the vice presidential selection committee for Governor Bush, and it ends up being that he is the selectee. No surprise, since last Friday, when he changed his voter registration from here in Dallas to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which he of course represented Wyoming in Congress for six terms, being elected repeatedly as the state's only person in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is a former defense secretary and has, for the last five years, been the chief executive officer of the Halliburton Corporation, which is a large oil field services, engineering company, based here in Dallas.

Cheney described by just about everyone who knows him and has worked with him as a steady, dependable person of long government service. A person who is on the inside of politics and government, and now a person who is in the higher ranks of the American oil industry.

Cheney, when he returned to Dallas the other night, Sunday night, unloaded his own luggage. He and wife Lynn flying back here, saying very little to reporters. He has maintained that. Yesterday morning he stepped out to get his own newspaper. We have been camped out in front of his house all morning waiting for him to repeat that.

He went to work yesterday in the Halliburton offices downtown here, located in a skyscraper in downtown Dallas. Kept more or less as much of an ordinary schedule as one could be expected to keep under these circumstances.

He has given no indication that he is going to be headed to work today, though. Today is a little bit different, headed for Austin for a 2:00 p.m. Central time, 3:00 p.m. Eastern time rally. Again, the Cheneys trying to carry on normally from everything, as I said earlier, loading and as carrying their own luggage to going out for coffee this morning, Mrs. Cheney did, and emerging back into their mansion here, waiting for the logistics of this to kick in. For him to pick up his role as the vice presidential nominee to George W. Bush.

Charles Zewe, CNN live, Dallas.

HEMMER: Charles, thank you.

As you mention there, Dick Cheney going to be reintroduced to America after a bit of a lull there, after leaving Washington. And of course, there was a lot of speculation about who Bush, indeed, would pick, and a number of names were mentioned during the search, among them Senator Bill Frist from Tennessee and former presidential candidate John McCain, the senator from Arizona. Both men shared their opinions about Cheney earlier today as a vice presidential candidate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: It's an excellent choice, and he brings a great deal of experience, talent, and popularity to the office. I think he will make an excellent running mate, and somebody I am sure that the Republican Party will rally strongly behind.

SEN. BILL FRIST (R), TENNESSEE: I'm very supportive of Dick Cheney. I have gotten to know him very well over the last several weeks and several months. He is a man of substance, a man who is very serious, a man who has experience, and extremely, extremely loyal to the Bush family and the Bush team.

(END VIDEO CLIP) DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: While many political insiders have weighed in with their opinions about Cheney, what really matters of course, in the end, is how the voters feel.

Gallup Poll editor-in-chief Frank Newport has a check on the nation's political pulse.

Frank, good morning.

FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, GALLUP POLL: Good morning, Daryn. Right you are, it is the people in the democracy that counts. We were out last night polling the public to get initial reaction to the choice of Cheney by George W. Bush.

Let's show you overall how the public relates to Cheney as a person. A couple of key figures on this favorable/unfavorable chart, notice that about 40 percent of Americans don't know enough about him to rate yet. But still, over half do, of those who do, very favorable impressions of Dick Cheney, notice only 11 percent unfavorable. So point number one is, Cheney starts out with very low negatives overall among the American public.

A couple of problems we probed last night, potential issues we asked about: his health. Not an issue, 70 percent of Americans say they don't care about those heart troubles that he had in the past. The fact that he and Bush have ties to Texas oil companies, again, not a concern to three-quarters of Americans overall.

Now, overall, how do Americans relate to the choice? Well, over here, Cheney's choice by George W. in the year 2000, 55 percent favorable reaction. Notice back when George the elder chose Quayle back in '88, same questioned was ask, it was a much more negative reaction. So George Jr. doing better than his father overall.

Will this have an impact on the overall election? The Republicans hope it will. We did ask last night in our snapshot poll a basic ballot question, and you can see, with Cheney on the ticket, about an eight point lead over Gore. These are the minor party candidates not doing very much. This is about what we've been seeing historically, up some from our last poll a week or two ago. I think we will really have to wait through the convention to see what its overall impact is.

There is the reaction from the public. Daryn, back to you.

KAGAN: Frank Newport, thank you for those latest numbers.

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