Jubilant delegates breeze through convention business in opening session

Bush officially nominated; Platform approved without debate

By Ian Christopher McCaleb and Mike Ferullo/CNN

PHILADELPHIA (CNN) -- To the surprise of very few, jubilant Republican delegates breezed through the opening session of the 2000 Republican Convention on Monday by formally nominating Texas Gov. George W. Bush for president and accepting a party platform appealing to the GOP's conservative base.

The day session's ceremonies and proceedings rolled along well ahead of schedule and with no technical or logistical mishaps to distract delegation members on the floor, jubliant that the much-anticipated gathering at the Comcast First Union Center was finally under way.

The GOP leadership made short orders of businsess of those procedural items during the first, and most business-like of the convention's five sessions. The delegates also unanimously agreed upon a new set of rules that will govern many of the party's actions until the next Republican election-year gathering, four years from now.

Texas Lt. Gov. Rick Perry, center of the Texas delegation, nominated Texas Gov. George W. Bush as the Republican presidential candidate.

The Bush nomination -- the first essential action that the party's 4,000-plus delegates and alternates converged upon the city to accomplish -- was over in just three minutes.

"I proudly place the name of the current governor of the state of Texas and the next president of the United States into nomination -- George W. Bush," said Texas Lt. Gov. Rick Perry. No other names were offered.

Perry -- who would succeed Bush as Texas' chief executive if the GOP ticket wins in November -- offered the nomination at approximately 1:20 p.m. EDT, just five minutes after Bush's vice presidential nominee, former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, entered the convention hall for the first time. The Texas delegation burst into a spirited chant of "Bush, Bush!" as the nomination was entered.

The first delegation votes will be cast as part of a "rolling roll call," set to begin during the second session with states voting in alphabetical order, from Alabama to Iowa. The roll call will continue into Thursday, the final night of the convention, when Bush will deliver his acceptance speech.

A different kind of Republican convention

As delegates, officials and GOP support staff streamed into the convention hall, many wore broad smiles and marveled aloud at their good fortune to be participating in their party's biggest political spectacle of this 2000 election year.

Dick Cheney, Bush's vice presidential nominee, received a warm welcome to the Comcast First Union Center by the state delegations on Monday.

"This is something we've waited for, planned for a year and it feels real good to be under way," said Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge. "Right now, people feel good about the warm hospitality Philadelphia has extended, and I'm pretty excited about the positive tone Gov. Bush has set."

Added Kyle Vallone, a California delegate from the San Francisco Bay area, "We have the best shot in years, the Republican base is really united, everybody wants to win."

Viewers on cable television and the Internet will be hard-pressed to find references to Bush's presumed Democratic rival, Vice President Al Gore, or President Clinton, in either Monday's floor speeches and in the newly-minted Republican party platform. The document heralds Bush as "a leader who brings people together."

"Bill Clinton and Al Gore are yesterday's news, and I think there's very little to be gained by talking about them," Michigan Gov. John Engler said.

Gen. Colin Powell, right, with Gov. George W. Bush at left

Platform trouble averted

The day's touchy orders of business -- the approval of the 2000 Republican platform and the party rules -- occurred early Monday afternoon, when delegate Mike Grebe made a motion on the convention podium for the presentation of the rules document. He was followed rapidly by Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, who put forth the platform.

Two items in particular were expected to create some amount of buzz on the convention floor. But neither prompted any floor fights, leading to an early end to the first session.

One was the creation of a new primary elections process that would start with smaller states casting their votes, to be followed in later weeks and months by larger, more electorally influential states. It was struck down during rules committee meetings late last week.

Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson

The primary proposal -- known as the "Delaware Plan" -- had many supporters in its early stages, but interest soon waned. Members of the Delaware delegation said the Bush campaign clearly made its presence known after the proposal first won subcommittee approval, effectively killing the measure during debate before the general rules committee.

Priscilla Rakestraw, who attended her first GOP convention in 1976, said, "The Delaware plan was sailing. It was the hottest item in town. And suddenly, I think the large states panicked and brought the Bush campaign in. They felt this was not a good time to have a major convention fight."

"We're extremely disappointed," she said.

Delegates from many larger states arguing the plan would have given rival Democrats a head start by allowing them to select their nominee well before Republicans.

Shortly after that, efforts by a coalition of "pro-choice" Republican advocacy groups to strike the platform plank outlining party opposition to abortion were abandoned for this election year, when the language's opponents realized they had a chance of making their case on the floor.

Three members of the family subcommittee of the full platform committee attempted to have the language softened in a way that would include an exception in cases of rape, incest and when a woman's life is endangered, and show some sort of party acceptance of their divergent viewpoint late last week.

Following the completion of the platform committee's work, representatives of the pro-choice groups blasted those proceedings, saying the party was still stereotypically rigid on many issues despite its attempts to recast its image.

California delegate Vallone said Monday he was mildly disappointed about the rejection of language recognizing that a number of Republicans are in favor of abortion rights.

"Eventually we're going to get that changed, but it's going to take time. The moderates have to be more active in the party," she said.

Saying she thought the group would not have a chance to make a statement prior to the platform's approval, Susan Cullman, co-chair of the Republican Pro-Choice Coalition, seemed ready to concede this year when questioned on the floor late Monday morning.

"We're out here doing petitions, if you can believe it," Cullman said. "These are just symbolic."

While she planned to make her case for a revised platform after the document's approval, Cullman said she was disappointed that events progressed in such a manner. But she said she was not surprised: The issue now was not to disrupt the proceedings, though she still wanted "people to know what happened here."

"We cannot get near the mike. There's nothing we can do," she said. "But our intention was never to disrupt."

Wisconsin's Thompson, who was the chairman of the full platform committee, said off the floor that he was glad the process was completed.

"I feel like I have had a 300-pound weight lifted off of my back," he said.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge

Thompson said he thought he had given pro-choice activists a fair shake, but they should have known they would be unsuccessful. "I wanted them to know that they had plenty of access," he said. "Everybody was courteous, listened, there was no divisiveness."

"They lost the vote, as I thought they would," Thompson said. "I told them I did not want them to stage a floor fight. I think that is why they didn't push harder."

Pennsylvania's Ridge tried to soothe nerves by describing the platform as a document that should not be regarded as truly binding. Ridge, who was vetted as a possible vice presidential candidate to join Bush, supports abortion rights.

"To me, the language of the platform isn't as important as the mutual respect that elected Republicans have for one another," he said on the floor. "We may disagree over that issue, but one of these days the platform will reflect in language how we each deal with it in reality."

"There are so many issues that bind us," he continued, citing "unanimous opposition to (so-called) 'partial-birth' abortion, (and) unanimous support for consent of parents when minors are involved."

Meanwhile, in New Hampshire

Noticeably quiet in the midst of the opening day frenzy was the seating section for the New Hampshire delegation, which was situated at the tip of the left end of the convention hall, far away from the podium at front-center.

Arizona Sen. John McCain

New Hampshire's placement did not represent its geographical position as one of the states at the mainland's Northeast tip, rather, it represented the slight meted out by Granite State voters to Bush, who lost this year's first-in-the-nation primary to Arizona Sen. John McCain.

McCain, whose self-described "insurgent campaign" created massive headaches for the Bush operation into early March, is still greatly respected in New Hampshire, though he released his state delegates to Bush on Sunday night in an emotional meeting.

"I was for McCain, but this is politics, and you have to move on," said James Squires, a resident of the colonial village of Hollis, in the southern portion of the state.

Squires, who is running for New Hampshire governor this year, was found seated by himself in the state's reserved section, reading a newspaper as the convention buzzed around him.

"That's one thing about politics -- somebody has to win."

Squires voiced strong admiration for McCain, and described a scene Sunday where McCain put the finishing touches on his run for the presidency, away from the glare of the media.

"He released us (the delegates) yesterday," Squires said. "It was emotional, it was moving. He thanked us, then he broke down as he kept talking. He released us to do whatever we need to do."

Bush's disposition rubs off on full convention

Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Nicholson opened the convention at 10 a.m. ET Monday to the strains of composer Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man."

Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Nicholson

"Today begins Day One of the Bush-Cheney era," Nicholson said. "We gather today in Philadelphia, the birthplace of our freedoms...to nominate the next president and vice president of the United States, George W. Bush, and Richard B. Cheney."

"I've never seen this party so excited and so united as going into this convention," Nicholson told CNN earlier Monday. He attributed much of that spirit to Bush: "He's a very positive, optimistic guy, and it's contagious."

This year marks the party's return to the city where its first national convention was held in 1856.

"We came here because of our convictions and our commitment to freedom and liberty, and we're back here 144 years later just as committed to freedom and liberty as we were then," Nicholson said.

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

Rep. James Rogan, R-California, who is facing a vicious battle to retain his seat in the House, took to the podium "not to talk about politics" Monday morning, but to praise "a hero," his mother, who as a single woman raised four children to become solid citizens.

"Her eldest is a member of the United States Congress, who has the privilege of standing before you and addressing this convention," Rogan said.

Rogan's brief appearance is illustrative of the party's new approach to conventioneering in this new millennium. While Rogan was one of the House's so-called impeachment managers who prosecuted the impeachment trial of President Clinton in the Senate in the first weeks of 1999 -- and has been attacked relentlessly by Democrats for doing so -- he did not make reference to his desire to retain his seat.

Rather, the party is banking on Bush's high polling numbers, and its adoption of his theme of compassionate conservatism, to carry many of its congressional candidates to victory in November.