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NYTimes:
THE 2000 CAMPAIGN: THE RUNNING MATE; The Armchair General: Richard Bruce Cheney
By ERIC SCHMITT
Published: July 26, 2000In choosing Mr. Cheney as his running mate, Gov. George W. Bush has turned to an unflappable Washington insider whose easygoing exterior masks a steely confidence [...] Mr. Cheney, 59, who served 10 years in the House of Representatives and four as President George Bush's defense secretary, brings stature, decisiveness and decades of government experience to a campaign sometimes short on all three.
But the real secret to his success may be an ability to wrap a staunchly conservative ideology in a mantle of moderation and civility to get people to trust him and get things done.
It is not just Republicans who feel at ease with Mr. Cheney [...] Mr. Cheney has a knack for working with political rivals, colleagues say.
''Dick does not bring political sex appeal to the ticket,'' said Bill Frenzel, a longtime friend and a former Republican congressman from Minnesota. ''What he brings is the competence and confidence that if anything happens to the president, the country will have a competent vice president to step in.'' [...]
- - NYTimes 7/26/2000
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And that was the narrative all through the campaign, eight years ago.
And the narrative was very much downplaying the part about "staunchly conservative ideology".
And the "competence" narrative was adopted by the rest of the media.
And that was what millions of people THOUGHT they were voting for in 2000.
Not that there's anything wrong with competence and effectiveness in and of themselves, but the narrative in 2000 was that Cheney's "staunchly conservative ideology" didn't really matter.
