Tuesday morning, fellow House members spoke with smiles of Bono, whom they described as a charismatic figure with great timing. And they spoke of a serious legislator, a student of politics for whom Speaker Newt Gingrich predicted advancement, at least within the House ranks. The liberals of the '80s, always suspicious of Reagan, found Bono's election an easy joke. He was a celebrity Congressman, popular with fellow members as well as with autograph-seekers, the second-most requested draw at members' events behind Gingrich. "The last thing in the world I thought I would be is a U.S. congressman, given all the bobcat vests and Eskimo boots I used to wear," Bono said in January 1995.
Bono was the straight man on "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour" in the early '70s, hangdog with his droopy mustache and bell-bottoms, dwarfed by his barb-tongued wife. As a songwriter, he wrote "Needles and Pins," "The Beat Goes On" and "I Got You, Babe." He was elected mayor of Palm Springs six years after his show went off the year. And six years after that he was elected congressman, swept into office by the Republican revolution, by a decent record as mayor and probably by a good dose of nostalgia for those innocent days before disco.