GENERAL LETDOWN

(7 of 7)

Pulling back, Powell realized, does not mean disappearing. There is a middle ground, and that is what he will be searching for as he seeks ways to serve and shape the race he so dominated until last week. He hadn't even caught his breath before people started asking about the vice presidency. In his remarks, he seemed to rule it out, though that is almost a requirement for getting the job. And Dole's team was practically printing up bumper stickers before the day was over. Campaign manager Scott Reed called the idea of a Dole-Powell ticket "orgasmic."

And so when Newt and Dole met the next day, Newt picked up the phone and dialed the general, then put Dole on the line. "I talked to him briefly," Dole told Time. "I told him I hope he thought I conducted myself properly. I never said anything but good things." Powell, Dole says, replied, "No, you've been a prince." The Powell folks on the other end remember things a little differently; and the word prince, they say, was never used. But both sides agree on one thing: the vice presidency never came up.

That doesn't mean that it never will. "He doesn't want to launch a whole new round of expectation and speculation," Michael says. "But that's not saying that come August, if asked by the candidate, his answer would be absolutely no. I wouldn't be surprised one bit if he was in government again as secretary of something or even Vice President. And I'm not entirely convinced he wouldn't run in 2000. He's only 58. In 2000 he'll be 10 years younger than Dole will be in 1996."

--Reported by Michael Duffy, J.F.O. McAllister and Eric Pooley/Washington