Republicans salute Bush in convention opener

8.25am

NEW YORK - Republicans opened their four-day national convention on Monday with salutes to President George W Bush's wartime leadership and repeated reminders of his response to the September 11, 2001, attacks.

At an opening session in New York, delegates approved a conservative, nonbinding party platform that endorses constitutional bans on gay marriage and abortion and vigorously defends Bush's conduct of the war in Iraq.

Republicans referred repeatedly to the September 11 attacks and praised Bush for his character, leadership and aggressive response, drawing an implied contrast with his Democratic challenger, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts.

"While others may hesitate and equivocate, the Republican Party will support our president as he makes America and the world stronger," said Tennessee Senator Bill Frist, chairman of the platform committee.

Republicans opened the convention in New York's Madison Square Garden in an upbeat mood, with a flurry of new polls showed Bush gaining ground and slightly leading Kerry nationally and in several key swing states.

"We will leave here with momentum that will carry us to victory in November," Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie said.

Vice President Dick Cheney arrived in the hall to chants of "Four more years!" Cheney watched as he and Bush were nominated for second terms and states began roll call voting that will conclude on Wednesday.

Monday's evening session will be highlighted by a tribute to September 11 victims and appearances by two party leaders who appeal to moderates, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Arizona Senator John McCain.

"He has been tested and has risen to the most important challenge of our time, and I salute him," McCain said of Bush in prepared excerpts of his speech released by the campaign.

The gathering is in New York, less than 7km from the gaping hole where the World Trade Centre once stood, in part to remind voters of Bush's leadership after the attacks.

Three victims' relatives will address the convention on Monday and Giuliani, who has been hailed for guiding the city through the aftermath of September 11, is expected to focus on that day, its consequences and Bush's reaction.

LINEUP OF MODERATES

Giuliani, McCain and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who will appear on Tuesday, are the stars in a line-up of moderate speakers designed to soften the party's conservative image and show a more inclusive face to swing voters in key states.

"In choosing a president, we really don't choose a Republican or Democrat, a conservative or liberal. We choose a leader," Giuliani said in his prepared remarks.

"And in times of danger, as we are now in, Americans should put leadership at the core of their decision," he said, comparing Bush's fight against terror to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's battle with Nazi Germany and US President Ronald Reagan's opposition to the Soviet Union.

"George W Bush sees world terrorism for the evil that it is and he will remain consistent to the purpose of defeating it while working to make us ever safer at home," Giuliani said.

McCain, who lost to Bush in a bitter Republican presidential primary struggle in 2000, has become Bush's regular campaign trail companion and will join him at a campaign event later this week.

McCain has been a staunch supporter of the Iraq war and also plans to praise Bush's leadership after the attacks on September 11, which he said "was the day when the hinge of history swung toward a new era" and shook American complacency.

"I salute his determination to make this world a better, safer, freer place. He has not wavered. He has not flinched from the hard choices. He will not yield, and neither will we," McCain said in prepared excerpts.

Kerry was on vacation in Nantucket, Massachusetts, and ceding the spotlight to Bush for most of the week, but his vice presidential running mate, North Carolina Senator John Edwards, condemned Bush's foreign policy in a speech in Wilmington, North Carolina.

"For 50 years, our presidents have led America down this strong and peaceful path. Until now, until this president," Edwards said in his prepared text. "We have seen what this administration's approach does to our standing in the world. It isolates us. It costs us respect from our allies."

Bush is on a week-long tour of key swing states before he arrives in New York on Wednesday. He will campaign in New Hampshire and Michigan later on Monday and cap off the convention with a nationally televised acceptance speech on Thursday.

- REUTERS