Republicans greet national convention start with confidence, unity

Unified party means no bounce for Bush, says convention organizer

By Ian Christopher McCaleb/CNN

PHILADELPHIA (CNN) -- Confident of their candidate and eager to re-claim the White House, Republicans on Monday welcomed the opening day of a four-day national convention in Philadelphia that is certain to feature plenty of pomp, fanfare and patriotic speeches.

Taking center stage in the GOP's first convention of the new millennium is the gleaming First Union Center sports complex, decked out in traditional red and blue colors. Weeks of preparation have gone into preparing the hall, where Texas Gov. George W. Bush is slated Thursday to accept his party's nomination for president.

RNC Chairman Jim Nicholson opens the convention

As they looked forward to the convention start Monday, party faithful were so sure of their own unity and their candidate's chances that they downplayed the need to rely on a bounce in public opinion polls, which usually follows the four-year event.

Andrew Card, co-chairman of the 2000 Republican National Convention, said Bush does not have to rely on the convention bolstering his public image as he runs against Vice President Al Gore into November, because many polls are now showing Bush with a double-digit lead over his Democratic rival.

And, Card added, Bush has done a solid job of solidifying his base within the GOP, meaning he will not have to look to the convention to convince any party stragglers to fall in behind him.

"It will be very difficult for us to have a post-convention bump," Card said on Sunday. "Al Gore, on the other hand, will probably get a big bump because his base is fractured and he'll go to Los Angeles and their base will come together."

The Democratic National Convention opens in Los Angeles in two weeks.

Bush made a stop for a rally in Cincinnati as part of his six-state pre-convention bus tour. He is expected to arrive in Philadelphia on Wednesday -- though he will make a variety of appearances via satellite link as the convention continues into the week.

Bush's running mate, former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, strode into Philadelphia to an enthusiastic welcome Sunday evening, well ahead of his running mate.

"The party's united. Our purpose is clear. Our cause is just," Cheney declared at a welcoming rally. "And Governor George Bush will be the next president of the United States." He then plunged into the cheering crowd to shake hands.

Cheney plans to circulate among delegates and will grant a number of media interviews until Wednesday night, when he is scheduled to deliver what Card describes as the "ultimate address," capping a night whose theme is expected to focus on Republican aspirations for tax relief and expanded business opportunities.

Republican vice presidential hopeful Dick Cheney greets supporters after arriving in Philadelphia for the Republican National Convention.

Cheney's spotlight opportunity on the night before Bush accepts his party's nomination is intended to play to the conservative base of the party and energize the full complement of more than 4,000 delegates and alternates as Bush's six-state, pre-convention tour comes to an end.

Laura Bush, the governor's wife, will deliver a prime-time speech Monday night focusing on literacy, to be followed by a long-anticipated appearance by retired Gen. Colin Powell, the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, who will speak on volunteerism and community service.

Bush will enter the convention hall for the first time Thursday, and will deliver his acceptance speech, once the "rolling roll call" of delegates is completed.

The city of Philadelphia filled Sunday with thousands of Republican Party players and other activists in advance of the opening ceremonies -- with activists staging a "shadow convention" as well as street protests, and party officials exposing vice presidential choice Dick Cheney to a prolonged grilling by national media outlets.

McCain's mild dissent

In perhaps his final act of measured defiance prior to addressing the full Republican convention Tuesday, Arizona Sen. John McCain, who gave the GOP's now all-but-assured nominee for the presidency fits during the first months of the 2000 election season, delivered the opening address at Sunday's shadow convention.

In a confident speech --interrupted occasionally by hecklers -- delivered on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, McCain thanked attendees for a boisterous welcome, and immediately implored those in the assembly hall and the thousands more observing the proceedings television and the Internet to stick to the principles of reform he espoused during his primary season run for the presidency at the beginning of this year.

McCain's primary run against Bush succeeded into the March 7 Super Tuesday national primary in large part because of his insistence that he run against his party's ideological grain. He did so by calling for a top-to-bottom overhaul of the system that regulates donations to the campaigns of people running for national office -- most specifically for a ban on unregulated "soft money" donations to party organizations.

The Arizona senator was the highest ranking Republican official scheduled to appear at the Philadelphia shadow convention, with another such event planned for Los Angeles in two weeks, when the Democrats assemble for their own party confab.

Shadow convention organizers, whose ranks include Common Cause, Call to Renewal and the Drug Policy Foundation, have convened their unusual, five-day event as a means to draw activists and so-called concerned citizens together in way that would allow issues not normally discussed at major party conventions to be debated.

Ariana Huffington steps in to quiet hecklers during Sen. John McCain's, R-Ariz., opening address to the Shadow Convention 2000 in Philadelphia.

The Republican and Democratic conventions, shadow activists have argued, represent nothing more than "pre-programmed infomercials" whose daily structures of events deliberately squelch true political debate.

Card said as much later Sunday, telling CNN that nobody should expect any surprises from the ceremonies.

"It's not going to be grandiose speeches by politicians," Card said. Rather, convention organizers have been highlighting scheduled addresses by ordinary Americans who plan to talk about everything from welfare reform to disability to education to taxes.

McCain said Sunday that his crusade to implement national campaign finance reform was intended not only to return integrity to the system, but to restore a sense of faith and purpose in the American public.

"I believe in American exceptionalism," McCain said. "I believe we were meant to transform history. ... I believe we are still the last best hope for Earth."

In order to "break the iron triangle of money, lobbyists and legislation," McCain continued, politics on a national level must find a new sense of purpose "beyond the personal ambitions of politicians."

"If Americans no longer believe their government embodies the ideas that are the basis of American exceptionalism, then Americans will stop seeing themselves as something larger," he said.

Onetime GOP activist and political columnist Arianna Huffington opened the event and introduced McCain, saying without the strenuous effort he made as a presidential candidate -- and without the public regard his message gained during his campaign -- the shadow conventions would never have been founded.

"Senator McCain, you may not want the honor, but the shadow conventions could not have happened without you," Huffington said.

Street activity

While the shadow convention represented centralized dissent characterized by clever discourse and good behavior, the streets of Philadelphia brimmed with an air of uncertainty, as a smaller-than expected crowd of about 5,000 demonstrators rallied downtown -- about two miles from convention central at the First Union Center -- to highlight issues they said the Republican convention was intent to ignore.

"The conventions are the epitome of what we think is wrong with the political system," said Matt Ruben of the Philadelphia Direct Action Group.

Ruben said organizers of the "Unity 2000" rally were not trying to be partisan, nor were they trying to spoil the GOP gathering. "We do not have a problem with the Republican Party," he said. "We have a problem with the political process in general."

Still, Ruben added, he wouldn't mind if protesters succeeded in "disrupting their precise schedule," referring to the Republicans' gathering.

As the voices of protesters grew louder into the afternoon, GOP organizers did their best to go about their last bits of preconvention business and ignore declarations such as those made by Ruben. Convention planners have said they will not allow demonstrations to alter their schedules, and will comport themselves as if no such activity is taking place nearby.

The Philadelphia police also seemed quite pleased that the first day of protests progressed with nary a hitch. Members of the city's police force were trained prior to the convention to respond to a variety of protest-related contingencies, including possible violent outbursts.

"So far, so good," said city Police Commissioner John Timoney. "My sense is that the vast majority of folks here want to voice their opinion and get their message out, but we know there are a few who are going to do some other things."

Demonstrators from gay and civil rights groups, labor unions and environmental organizations joined advocates for the poor and critics of American military policy in a protest that many on-scene promised would be orderly. The groups included the AFL-CIO, the National Organization for Women and opponents of the death penalty.

"The general theme is the lack of representation in our political system to issues we feel are important," said Ben Jones, a spokesman for Unity 2000. "We're trying to make this a kind of march and rally that people could bring their families to."

Demonstrators gathered on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in front of the city's art museum. Standing before a large balloon shaped like the Liberty Bell, they sang the National Anthem and chanted slogans.

Police officers in cars, on bikes, on foot and in helicopters tracked their movements.

One of the earliest groups demonstrated in opposition to the School of the Americas, a military training compound in Fort Benning, Georgia, that critics charge trains soldiers -- even terrorists -- from Latin America to torture and kill their own citizens.

They want the U.S. government to close the school.

"We don't want our tax dollars and our personal morality involved in something like that," said Ann Becherer, an activist with the group. Members of the group were carrying small wooden crosses in memory of people they said were killed by soldiers who had been trained at the U.S. military school.

Monday's slate of activities

The GOP convention launches at 10 a.m. EDT Monday with an invocation and remarks by Jim Nicholson, the chairman of the Republican National Committee. Each of the festivities' four days centers on a theme -- Monday's theme is "Opportunity With a Purpose: Leave No Child Behind," though the theme-related events will not kick off until 7 p.m.

Much of the morning's opening session will feature remarks by current members of Congress and a handful of hopeful congressional candidates who would like to join those lawmakers in Washington come November.

During the nightsession, the first segments of the rolling roll call will take place, with state delegations casting their votes for the nomination of George W. Bush. Alabama will be first to vote, with Iowa the last to participate Monday night.

From 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., a variety of citizens will deliver speeches and video presentations based on their work with a number of charities and faith-based organizations. Alternative and experimental educational and social services programs will be discussed -- many of which involve large elements of private sector support -- and so-called "Profiles in Courage" presentations will feature people who will describe themselves as products of a number of such endeavors.

Mrs. Bush will deliver her speech on literacy during the last hour of Monday's program, and will be followed by Powell, who will close out the evening.

Reuters contributed to this report.