WASHINGTON – Just hours after Dick Cheney earned the title of vice president-elect, his first meeting – and lunch – on Capitol Hill was with a small group of moderate Senate Republicans led by Maine Sen. Olympia J. Snowe.

The lunch, which included Sen. Susan M. Collins, was symbolic of the coming administration’s efforts to reach out toward more political factions.

Cheney said the administration would push for tax cuts, prescription drug coverage for seniors, and sweeping education reforms that could allow the federal government to play a role in making schools more accountable for the funds that they receive.

The small group of senators – Snowe, Collins, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., James M. Jeffords, R-Vt., and Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I. – said their agenda included preservation or expansion of home heating funding for New England and some version of a campaign finance reform plan pushed by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

“I expect that President-elect George W. Bush will be extremely conciliatory and will do everything that he can to extend himself across party lines,” Snowe said. “These initial efforts will be more important than usual in shaping the presidency. They will be instrumental in defining the presidency.”

Snowe is looking ahead to the Bush presidency from a unique position. She was the senator who represented the “summer home” of President George H.W. Bush at Kennebunkport. And while the senior Bush was president, Snowe’s husband, John R. “Jock” McKernan, was governor of Maine. They were occasional visitors to the compound and had a chance to meet the new president-elect when he was simply the first son.

“He’s one and the same in the public and private persona,” Snowe said of President-elect Bush. “He wants to have his legacy in the presidency to be that of someone who can work across party lines. That is truly part of his personality and nature of his executive leadership qualities.”

Snowe could emerge as a major power player in the coming session. She not only has a role with the small GOP lunch group and with the larger Senate Centrist Caucus that includes Democrats, but she started her career on Capitol Hill in the same class that brought a veteran policy-maker to the U.S. House – Dick Cheney.

“We started together, we learned the Hill together,” Snowe said Wednesday.

In the meeting, Cheney was described as conversational and open. He outlined the importance of education policy reforms as a centerpiece to the Bush administration agenda.

Snowe said Cheney’s message was that “we need to figure out how to build a consensus on improving the flexibility and accountability of our education system.” She said federal funds for school construction is also going to be an important issue in 2001.

Both Snowe and Collins pitched campaign finance reform as a topic. Cheney was described by both as more cautious on the issue.

“I raised it as an example of an issue that could be sort of a defining change” to the new administration. How did Cheney react? In between eating his chicken breast salad, said Snowe, “he listened.”

“He listens very closely,” added Collins. “He wants to keep in touch with us. He wants to involve us with policy matters.” She said that message made her confident about the direction the new administration would take in its potentially tumultuous opening days.

Collins said her pitch about revamping education policy appeared to hit home.

“His message to us was that he wants to work with all members of the caucus and he’s committed to reaching out to conservative and moderate Democrats as well,” Collins said. “He recognizes how important the first 100 days of the administration are.”