DOLE CONFIRMS QUICK CONVENTION PACE, OPENING SPEECH BY POWELL.

Byline: Associated Press 

Colin Powell will be bumping elbows with former Presidents Bush and Ford on what is shaping up as a crowded opening night for the Republican National Convention. The week will be fast-paced, says Bob Dole, promising most of the speeches ``are going to be very short.''

Powell's addition to the lineup, which Dole confirmed Friday, came as convention organizers continued to try to shape a production more viewer-friendly than the party's divisive Houston convention four years ago.

Dole, who will be nominated on the third night of the Aug. 12-15 convention in San Diego and give his acceptance speech on the fourth, says his will be the longest speech - about 25 minutes.

``You know, it's the view of the experts that the other speeches should never exceed 10 minutes or 11, maybe better at five minutes or six,'' he said in an interview with C-SPAN.

C-SPAN is carrying gavel-to-gavel coverage, but the major broadcast networks are only giving Republicans several prime-time hours a night.

Dole earlier announced Rep. Susan Molinari, R-N.Y., would deliver the keynote address on the second night of the convention.

Both Molinari and Powell support abortion rights, representing an effort by Dole to reach out to moderates.

That caused some grumblings among the religious right, although they remain optimistic Dole will pick an anti-abortion running mate.

While Dole is working out convention details, some restive Republicans are pushing him to sharpen his campaign message, including a group holding an ``economic summit'' next week to review tax reform ideas with his staff.

``This feeling that we can wait until Labor Day is bunk,'' Rep. John Kasich, R-Ohio, told a GOP meeting in his home state Friday. ``He's got to hone his message and, frankly, they probably ought to shake up that campaign.''

Campaigning Friday in Cleveland, Dole said he'd talked to Powell by phone about an opening-night speech and that the retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff accepted. ``I'm very proud that he is a Republican and proud that he will be participating,'' Dole said.

Dole courted Powell as a possible running mate, but Powell said he wasn't interested, nor did he plan to campaign actively this fall for Dole. Getting him to speak the first night was ``a big step forward,'' Dole said.

Dole and his convention planners were trying to avoid a repeat of the 1992 GOP convention in Houston. Then, a succession of conservative speakers - including firebrand commentator Pat Buchanan - came across as strident to many American TV viewers and many tuned out, suggest political analysts of both parties.

``I don't believe the American people want to see . . . just one politician following the other speak, speak speak. So we're going to have a different kind of convention,'' Dole said in his interview with C-SPAN, taped Tuesday and scheduled to be televised Sunday.

Buchanan, who finished a distant second place to Dole in the GOP primaries but still considers himself an active candidate, wants a prime-time speaking role at the convention. But so far, he is not even penciled in on the program. Buchanan has vowed to speak at a rally nearby if denied a major speaking slot.

Powell will follow Monday night speeches by former Presidents Gerald Ford and George Bush and a tribute to former President Ronald Reagan that will include a brief appearance by Nancy Reagan.

Republican and Dole campaign officials say the convention will be fast-paced and tailored to the home viewing audience, with lots of prerecorded videos, biographical clips on Dole and even some live ``interactive'' segments with average Americans.