Groundwork laid for big Bush convention speech

8.20am

NEW YORK - United States President George W Bush, hoping to build on recent momentum in the White House race, delivers the biggest speech of his campaign today in the city where the September 11, 2001, attacks transformed his presidency.

The address by Bush, who arrived in New York yesterday, will propel the president into the final two months of a neck-and-neck race for another four years in the White House against Democratic challenger John Kerry.

The groundwork was laid yesterday with a pair of scathing attacks by Vice President Dick Cheney and convention keynote speaker Zell Miller, a Democratic senator from Georgia. The pair questioned Kerry's credentials to be commander in chief and his US Senate record, with Cheney accusing Kerry of "a habit of indecision."

"In this time of challenge, America needs -- and America has -- a president we can count on to get it right," Cheney said.

Miller, who 12 years ago delivered a keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention, said Kerry would be a dangerous leader.

In a bid to blunt the assault, Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards appeared on four television morning shows on Thursday.

"Hate. Anger. If you listen to Senator Miller's speech and the vice president's speech there was an awful lot of focus and angry rhetoric about Senator Kerry," Edwards, a senator from North Carolina, said on CNN.

"It would be nice for them to have a little more anger about the 5 million people who've lost their health care while President Bush has been in office, 4 million who have fallen into poverty and the almost 2 million people who have lost their private sector jobs," he said.

Recent polls show Bush gaining ground on Kerry, and some show him moving into a small lead. They also show him building his advantage over Kerry in areas that have moved to the top of the campaign agenda, such as national security.

The speech will provide Bush a stage to tout his first-term record, lay out ideas for another four years and draw some sharp differences with Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts.

The president was expected to defend his decision to go to war in Iraq and recount his response to the September 11 attacks. His trip to Ground Zero three days later and promise through a bullhorn of a tough US response led to a surge of support before the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden, blamed for the hijacked airliner attacks that killed nearly 3000 people in New York and Washington, remains at large.

Bush also has promised a speech that looks to the future, with aides saying it will have new domestic policy proposals, including possibly a renewed call for broad tax reform or to add private accounts to the Social Security retirement programme.

Convention organisers worked through the night to prepare for Bush's coronation, feverishly overhauling the Madison Square Garden convention hall to accommodate a theatre-in-the-round stage.

When Bush accepts the Republican nomination, he will be standing on a new circular stage surrounded by delegates and audience.

He was to attend a late morning prayer service before visiting the convention hall to familiarise himself with the set-up. He has been practising the speech for a week, campaign aides said.

He will be introduced by New York Governor George Pataki after an evening featuring retired General Tommy Franks, the former head of US Central Command.

Bush will leave New York immediately afterward for the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania, where he plans a morning rally on Friday to launch his two-month dash to the November 2 election.

Bush hopes the four-day Republican convention will provide a measurable surge in public approval, known as bounce. Kerry managed only a small boost in the polls after the Democrats gathered in Boston earlier this summer.

Kerry holds a midnight rally in Springfield, Ohio, just an hour after Bush's speech concludes.

Kerry, asked by reporters after Wednesday night's speeches if he took some blows from Republicans, replied, "Oh, I don't think so."

- REUTERS