2004 Republican National Convention/New York City

He promises steady, principled leadership

01:50 AM EDT on Friday, September 3, 2004

By CARL P. LEUBSDORF / The Dallas Morning News

NEW YORK — President Bush, standing a bare three miles from the site of the attacks that defined his first term, appealed Thursday for a second term to press his battle against terrorism and pursue a domestic agenda that could remake the tax system.

Irwin Thompson / DMN President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and their families greet the crowd at the end of the Republican National Convention Thursday at Madison Square Garden in New York.

"This nation wants steady, consistent, principled leadership, and that is why, with your help, we will win this election," Mr. Bush said as he accepted his party's renomination at the Republican convention.

Taking aim at his opponent, the president mocked John Kerry's claim that he has "conservative values," accused him of constantly changing positions on Iraq and said that his "policies of tax and spend ... are the policies of the past."

"We are on the path to the future, and we are not turning back."

Mr. Bush said his second-term agenda would include a comprehensive study of taxes and a renewed effort to allow younger workers to put Social Security funds into a private investment account.

"In a new term, I will lead a bipartisan effort to reform and simplify the federal tax code," the president told the cheering crowd, which repeatedly chanted "four more years" in a packed and heavily secured Madison Square Garden.

He offered no specifics, but the White House said Mr. Bush will name a bipartisan panel to recommend changes "as early as possible in 2005." The panel also would be asked whether to modify the old system or build a new one.

Mr. Bush stood amid delegates on a newly erected round stage with a giant presidential seal. The crowd cheered lustily throughout his speech, especially when he portrayed the election as a referendum on his handling of the war on terrorism and vowed, "I will never relent in defending America, whatever it takes."

"Generations will know if we kept our faith and kept our word. Generations will know if we seized this moment and used it to build a future of safety and peace," he said. "The freedom of many and the future security of our nation now depend on us."

At the end, Mr. Bush was joined by his wife, Laura, Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, for the traditional dropping of red, white and blue balloons from the garden's rafters while the band played, "Put a Little Love in Your Heart."

The president devoted much of his speech to domestic issues, in a move to counter the perception in some polls that he has done less well on the economy and other problems at home. He said he would push for a number of proposals sidetracked during his first term, including revision of the legal liability system and greater choice in health insurance and retirement savings.

"The times in which we live and work are changing dramatically," he said. And they require updates to government programs on taxes, health care, pensions and worker training to help Americans "make your own choices and pursue your own dreams," he said.

They include an idea he outlined recently to help employers offer flex-time schedules, rather than paying overtime. Mr. Bush also called for efforts to build "an ownership society" that encourages home buying and helps more Americans control their health insurance and retirement plans.

At several points in a speech that stretched two minutes past an hour because of his slow, methodical delivery, Mr. Bush portrayed Mr. Kerry as a consistent opponent of the changes he favors.

"My opponent's policies are dramatically different from ours," the president said, citing the Massachusetts senator's opposition to his proposals on Medicare, health savings accounts, medical liability laws, tax cuts and funding for U.S. troops in Iraq.

But his criticism was far milder than Wednesday night's withering attacks by Mr. Cheney and Georgia Sen. Zell Miller, a Democrat.

The president spoke just north of the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center and killed nearly 3,000 people and vowed to protect the country by "staying on the offensive — striking terrorists abroad — so we do not have to face them here at home."

And he was cheered when he defended his decision to attack Iraq and overthrow Saddam Hussein.

"Do I forget the lessons of Sept. 11 and take the word of a madman, or do I take action to defend our country?" Mr. Bush asked. "Faced with that choice, I will defend America every time."

Kerry: Bush misled

In a harsh rebuttal after a week of GOP bashing, Mr. Kerry said Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney had "misled the nation" into war.

"I'm not going to have my commitment to defend this country questioned by those who refused to serve when they could have and by those who have misled the nation into Iraq," Mr. Kerry said in remarks prepared for a midnight rally in Ohio. Mr. Kerry won five military medals in the Vietnam War; Mr. Bush was stateside in the National Guard, and Mr. Cheney's five draft-era deferments kept him out of the service.

Even before Mr. Bush's speech, Democrats contended it would promise more than he would be able to deliver. "This will be like one of his State of the Unions where he lays out everything and does nothing," Democratic Party Chairman Terry McAuliffe told reporters.

Underscoring the hard-fought nature of the race, which polls have shown for months is roughly tied, the two candidates planned to resume campaigning within hours of the end of the GOP convention; Mr. Bush in Pennsylvania, Mr. Kerry in Ohio.

Others criticize Kerry

Mr. Bush was introduced by New York Gov. George Pataki, who resumed his party's bashing of Mr. Kerry. "I want to help voters compare President Bush's record of achievement with Senator Kerry's," he said. "That way, they'll be able to see the difference, which is that President Bush has a record of achievement."

In a jab, he noted Mr. Kerry's slogan of "hope is on the way" and said, "With all their flip-flopping and zig-zagging, their real slogan should be 'hype is on the way.' "

Another speaker, retired Army Gen. Tommy Franks, the Midland native who led the wars to topple the Taliban and Saddam Hussein, endorsed Mr. Bush as "a leader we can depend on to make the tough decisions — and the right decisions."

Others who spoke Thursday night included former Housing Secretary Mel Martinez, who this week won the GOP Senate primary in Florida, and Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams.

The program also featured past Olympic champions and sports stars, including gymnasts Kerri Strug and Mary Lou Retton; figure skater Dorothy Hamill; and pro football star-turned-broadcaster Lynn Swann.

At two points in Mr. Bush's speech, a couple of protesters sought to interrupt him. But he pressed ahead, and they were hustled out of the hall amid loud chants of "four more years."

E-mail cleubsdorf@dallasnews.com