Small poll boost for Bush as Republicans gather

1.00pm - By DAVID USBORNE


The name of George Bush was continuing to ring through the streets of Manhattan, not always in the politest of contexts, as the Republican National Convention got under way at Madison Square Garden.

But the President himself was still out of town, completing a weeklong campaigning swing through crucial states. Mr Bush, who was in New Hampshire and Ohio yesterday (Monday), marked the start of his party's gathering with a nationally broadcast interview on NBC's breakfast show.

Lingering on the topic of the war against terrorism, he said that the effort should never be relaxed.

"You cannot show weakness in this world today because the enemy will exploit that weakness", the President said, in a thinly disguised jab at John Kerry, his Democrat rival, whom he has painted as being less resolute than himself in fighting terror threats and seeing through the American mission in Iraq.

For the first time, however, Mr Bush conceded that the war against terror will be a long one that may never be concluded.

Asked by the interviewer, Matt Lauer, "Can we win?" the President replied: "I don't think you can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that the - those who use terror as a tool are - less acceptable in parts of the world."

Scheduled to arrive in New York on Wednesday in time for his appearance on Thursday evening in Madison Square Garden formally to accept his party's presidential nomination, Mr Bush had a small boost from a variety of polls.

They suggested that while he remains in a dead heat with Mr Kerry nationally, the trends in important swing states may be in his favour.

A Miami Herald poll showed him two points ahead of his rival in Florida, for example, showing 48 per cent support versus 46 per cent for Mr Kerry.

Polls taken by CNN put him at 51 per cent in Iowa against 45 per cent for Mr Kerry.

Critically, both men were tied at 47 per cent Pennsylvania, a state that is a must-win for Democrats.

"Bush is moving up in the polls but he is hardly safe," commented William Schneider of the American Enterprise Institute and commentator on CNN.

"When he is over 50 per cent, he can breathe easy."

Traditionally, a nominee enjoys a boost in the poll ratings immediately after their party's convention. That did not happen for Mr Kerry after the Democratic gathering in Boston last month, however.

After Sunday's massive march through midtown Manhattan on Sunday, which brought together about 150,000 anti-Bush and anti-war protesters, the streets of the city were most calm yesterday.

An 18-square-block zone of the city near the Garden was closed to most traffic.
But the subways ran normally and most workers were able to get to work more or less unimpeded.

Some demonstrators took the major hotels at breakfast time to greet delegates as they emerged to make their way to the convention site.

"Corporate Orgy in Iraq", was the refrain being sung by demonstrators, some dressed in oversized Bush masks and other wild costumes.

Outside the Plaza Hotel south of Central Park, demonstrators complete with pink wigs lingered with plastic cups charged with champagne, toasting the "tax cuts to the rich" made by Mr Bush in his presidency.

But as conventioneers strolled out, most merely smiled at the demonstrators.
A few stopped in their tracks, but only to have their pictures snapped next to the pink-wigged protestors.

Another march on Madison Square Garden was planned for yesterday evening by a the 'Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign to highlight the economic disparities in America.

- INDEPENDENT