'The night is passing,' Bush says

George W. Bush accepts the Republican presidential nomination

By Matt Smith/CNN

PHILADELPHIA (CNN) -- In a strongly worded acceptance speech, George W. Bush closed the Republican National Convention on Thursday by offering a new era of good feeling in Washington while accusing the current administration of wasting eight years of opportunities.

"Americans live on the sunrise side of the mountain," he said. "The night is passing, and we are ready for the day to come."

Bush formally accepted his party's presidential nomination Thursday night, making the case for restoring a Republican to the presidency for the first time since his father, George Bush, left office in 1993.

His remarks closed a four-day convention notable for party leaders' success in filing down the GOP's sharp partisan edges, drove home his campaign theme of "compassionate conservatism" by showcasing minorities and highlighting issues such as education and health care, while concurrently staking out conservative positions on abortion, taxes and national defense.

Distancing himself from the battles between Congress and the Clinton administration, the two-term Texas governor told convention delegates: "I don't have enemies to fight and I have no stake in the bitter arguments of the last few years. I want to change the tone of Washington to one of civility and respect."

In his address, Bush focused on what he called the "squandered" years of the Clinton administration.

"They had their chance. They have not led. We will," Bush said. "And now they come asking for another chance, another shot."

"Our answer? Not this time. Not this year," he said.

Bush cites Texas pol to reach across party lines

Bush, like running mate Dick Cheney the previous evening, tried to link Gore with Clinton, telling the crowd: "This is not a time for third chances, it is a time for new beginnings." By contrast, he said, "We will seize this moment of American promise."

"We will use these good times for great goals. We will confront the hard issues -- threats to our national security, threats to our health and retirement security -- before the challenges of our time become crises for our children."

Bush's political career began with a failed run for Congress from his adopted hometown of Midland, Texas, in 1978. He worked in his father's successful 1988 campaign, then returned to Texas and became managing partner of the Texas Rangers professional baseball team. A few years later, he mounted two successful bids for governor of the state, in 1994 and 1998.

He made an appeal across party lines by stressing his ability to work with Democrats among lawmakers and heaping praise on the late lieutenant governor of Texas, Bob Bullock, who shepherded many of Bush's proposals through the state Senate. Bullock died in 1999 and Bush invoked his name to warn Gore against further attacks on his stewardship of the state.

"Bob was a Democrat, a crusty veteran of Texas politics and my great friend," Bush said. "He worked by my side, endorsed my re-election, and I know he is with me in spirit in saying to those who would malign our state for political gain: Don't mess with Texas."

He repeated his standard campaign pledges: to improve education standards and accountability; to cut taxes; to pay more attention to a military that Republicans say has been neglected; and to allow workers the chance to divert some of their Social Security taxes to private investment accounts.

'I am not running in borrowed clothes'

While reaching across party lines, however, Bush did not skip the conservative appeals that are the foundation of the Republican Party.

Although he tried to downplay abortion for much of the primary campaign in order to avoid splitting the party, Bush drew strong applause when he brought up the issue Thursday night. While noting that "good people disagree on this issue," the nominee nonetheless promised to sign bills that would ban late-term abortions and require minors to notify their parents before getting an abortion.

"I will lead our nation toward a culture that values life -- the life of the elderly and the sick, the life of the young and the life of the unborn," he said.

He made an oblique reference to Clinton's legal woes and the Monica Lewinsky scandal by promising again to "uphold the honor and dignity of the office to which I have been elected, so help me God."

And, taking aim at what appears to Bush to be calculated decisions by the Gore campaign, he told delegates, "I believe great decisions are made with care, made with conviction, not made with polls."

Bush offcially becomes 'the one' for the Republican Party Thursday in Philadelphia

"I do not need to take your pulse before I know my own mind. I do not reinvent myself at every turn. I am not running in borrowed clothes," he said, in a reference to Gore's revamped wardrobe filled with earth tones. "When I act, you will know my reasons. When I speak, you will know my heart."

Gore has tried to paint Bush's proposals as "risky schemes" that would dissipate the federal budget surplus. Bush said Thursday that those critiques show Gore has only one message: "The politics of the roadblock, the philosophy of the stop sign.

"If my opponent had been there at the moon launch, it would have been a 'risky rocket scheme,'" Bush charged to cheers and laughter. "If he had been there when Edison was testing the light bulb, it would have been a 'risky anti-candle scheme.' ... He now leads the party of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but the only thing he has to offer is fear itself."