MONTGOMERY — Dick Cheney, George W. Bush's running mate, watched Tuesday's presidential debate here Tuesday night and wasted no time declaring his boss had won.

        “Did a hell of a job, didn't he?” Mr. Cheney told a cheering crowd of about 200 local Bush-Cheney campaign volunteers who gathered around the bar at the Montgomery Inn.

Republican vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney watched the presidential debates at the Montgomery Inn in Montgomery on Tuesday night. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

        “I'd say he won,” Mr. Cheney said moments after the Bush-Gore debate ended. “Big time.”

        Mr. Cheney debates Democratic vice presidential nominee Joseph Lieberman Thursday night at Centre College in Danville, Ky.

        He came here to watch the first presidential debate, a place where the Bush- Cheney ticket is expected to do well and where the local Republican party establishment is able to turn out a friendly crowd on short notice.

        The GOP running mate watched the debate in a private room at the Montgomery Inn, but came out moments after the debate ended to talk to a crowd of Republicans who had been booing Mr. Gore and cheering their candidate for the past 90 minutes.

        “I think that what the American people saw in George Bush tonight is the man I have come to know over the past several years, a man who is just the kind of man we need to be president,” Mr. Cheney said.

        The debate, Mr. Cheney said, showed the contrasts between the Democrats and Republicans on a wide range of issues.

        “It showed that the other side, they just can't wait to get their hands on that budget surplus, while we want to get it back to the American people.”

        Mr. Cheney was at the Montgomery Inn for over three hours, arriving about half an hour before the debate broadcast began.

        About 200 local Bush-Cheney volunteers crammed into an upstairs banquet room at the Montgomery Inn before the debate to munch on barbecue and await the arrival of the GOP vice presidential nominee.

        Mr. Cheney spoke to them briefly when he arrived.

        “This is serious business,” Mr. Cheney told the crowd. “I hope Americans will listen very closely to what is said tonight, because there are clear differences between the candidates.”

        His wife, Lynne Cheney, former chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, told the local Republicans that she is looking forward to her husband's debate with Mr. Lieberman.

        She said Mr. Lieberman had described the debate as a boxing match, where he would float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

        “Well, I don't think they are boxing matches,” Mrs. Cheney said. "I think it's a western. We've got two good men coming out of the west to kick the bad guys out of town.”

        After brief remarks to the crowd, Mr. Cheney was whisked off to a private dining room where he ate ribs and watched the debate with a small group — his wife; Jane Portman, wife of U.S. Rep. Rob Portman; and Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell.

        Mr. Bush will be in suburban Columbus today, appearing with parents and students at Reynoldsburg High School.

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