Running Start . . .

At the climax of a Republican National Convention that had dedicated itself to the strident, uncompromising agenda of the conservative right, George Bush stood on his own two feet and declared that he hoped to represent a new harmony and a greater tolerance in American life--a gentler, kinder nation. And how odd that a presidential nominee felt it necessary to say, “I do not hate government.” How good that Bush chose to say it. A fresh breeze blew through the Louisiana Superdome and out into the neighborhoods and rural lanes of America.

The Bush who accepted his party’s presidential nomination Thursday night was no wimp or lap-dog. This was not the fellow who tagged gamely along at Ronald Reagan’s heels for the past 7 1/2 years, or someone who seemed content, even eager, to play toady to the New Right. This was the Bush that old friends and observers had said was there all along. Capable. Confident. Caring. Genuine.

Maybe he’s not the greatest orator. He even garbled some of his carefully rehearsed laugh lines Thursday night. But Bush did what the pundits said he had to do: deliver the speech of his life--a speech that marked an important departure from the mood of defiant infallibility that too often has pervaded the Ronald Reagan White House. Bush took charge and nudged his party back in the direction of the great center of American politics--the vast arena in which the presidential elections historically are decided.

Democratic nominee Michael S. Dukakis has a job on his hands. The two presidential candidates are not dwarfs or underdogs. These are two articulate, intelligent persons who are capable of giving the U.S. electorate an unusually candid and enlightening presidential campaign during the coming 11 weeks. If they agree now to fight this battle on the high plane of issues and ideas rather than personalities and slurs, this campaign could be one of the best and fairest in decades.

Of course, Bush must put to rest the controversy over the military service record of his running mate, Sen. Dan Quayle of Indiana. The issue will test the vice president’s ability to deal with a brewing crisis promptly and appropriately.

But he certainly met Thursday night’s rhetorical challenge of defining himself and the flavor of a Bush Administration. First, as he had to, Bush embraced the tenets of Reagan conservatism, including the right’s social agenda of prayer in schools, opposition to abortion and capital punishment and freedom to possess guns.

Then, however, Bush filled in many of the glaring gaps of the Reagan years when he talked of economic growth that touches those who have been passed over, including the disabled, of ridding the nation of the vestiges of racial bigotry and of dealing with neglected environmental problems. And Bush eloquently lamented the decline of ethical standards, denouncing both big graft and “the small corruptions of everyday ambition.”

In the days ahead the vice president must sketch in his sweeping proposals with details and substance--the promise of 30 million new jobs in eight years, for instance--and explain how he can achieve them without new taxes. For now, however, the nation has a much better idea of what sort of man George Bush is and what sort of President he would be.

Bush described himself as an awkward fellow and as a quiet man. But on Thursday night he stood tall and spoke loudly and clearly.