In the conspiracy-laden world of national politics, every nuance is analyzed and reinterpreted. For example, McCain was campaigning with the president whereas Cheney was keeping a low profile in New York.

And Cheney, during his public appearances in New York, has been more subdued than anyone who knows him could remember.

And the biggest tell-tale sign: Among the speakers, the convention is loaded with Republican moderates like McCain and Rudy Giuliani and Arnold Schwarzenegger, whereas conservatives are noticeably absent.

Giuliani, who followed McCain to the podium and who achieved national prominence for his stewardship of the city in the hours and days after the Sept. 11 attacks, said that since that day, "President Bush has remained rock solid. It doesn't matter how he is demonized."

By contrast, he said Kerry has switched his position on the 1991 Persian Gulf War, on an $87 billion funding bill for postwar Afghanistan and Iraq and on the security barrier the Israeli government is erecting.

"John Kerry has made it the rule to change his position, rather than the exception," Giuliani said in remarks that were designed to undercut Kerry's claim that he is ready to take command in an era of terrorism.

"We need George Bush more than ever," Giuliani said.

While McCain was largely conciliatory in his Monday night keynote address, he drew his loudest response when he criticized Michael Moore, whose documentary film "Fahrenheit 9-11" attacks Bush about Iraq. Without mentioning Moore by name, McCain called him "a disingenuous filmmaker who would have us believe that Saddam's Iraq was an oasis of peace."

That prompted raucous, prolonged boos from the delegates. Many of them jeered Moore, who was seated in the Madison Square Garden press seats as a columnist this week for USA Today.

McCain used his address — a patriotic defense of the president's war on terrorism — to dispel the rumors, pledging his support for Bush and Cheney, "two men" who have the moral courage and resolve to win the war.

It was a message received with thunderous approval from the delegates, who are predominantly conservative and overwhelmingly pro-Cheney.

"Cheney is way loved by the delegates, and that is one of the reasons Bush is keeping his base pumped up," Cannon said.

Monday morning, Cheney was officially nominated as the vice presidential candidate. And party insiders say it would be unheard of to reverse that nomination.

"He (Bush) would alienate everyone here," predicted Utah delegate Becky Lockhart.

Former lieutenant governor candidate Enid Greene suspects the rumors were instigated by Republicans panicking that Bush does not have a wide lead on Democrat John Kerry. "Some people are always agitating," Greene said.

The Utah delegation uniformly likes McCain, but it likes Cheney better.

"Dick Cheney has been loyal to the president, and the president needs to be loyal to him, and he will be," said Utah Senate Majority Leader Michael Waddoups.

"I support Cheney," Shurtleff said. "But I would support whoever the president chooses."

"I am happy with Cheney, but I would be perfectly fine with McCain. He could stir things up a bit," Greene said.

But, she added, "It wouldn't be a convention without rumors."

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Contributing: Associated Press; E-mail: spang@desnews.com