GOP delegates, protesters converge on New York City

NEW YORK -- Pro-choice abortion protesters and the first Republican delegates descended on President Bush's heavily fortified convention city Saturday as campaign officials said their boss would use the nomination spotlight to defend his hawkish foreign polices and offer a second-term agenda for health care, education and job training.

"He believes it's important for a candidate to talk about what he's done and, most important, where he wants to lead," said adviser Karen Hughes, aboard Bush's campaign bus in Ohio. "The speech is very forward-looking. It talks about what another four years of a Bush presidency would look like."

Kerry's view

Democratic rival Sen. John Kerry said most voters won't look kindly on another term for the Republican. "For the last four years, we've had a dark cloud over Washington," Kerry told supporters on an overcast day in Washington state. "We're going to get rid of it on Nov. 2."

With his decorated combat record in question, Kerry said, "I'm in a fighting mood," and a campaign ally chided Bush for serving stateside in the Texas Air National Guard while others fought in Vietnam.

In an interview, Bush told NBC's "Today" that Kerry "going to Vietnam was more heroic than my flying fighter jets. He was in harm's way and I wasn't. On the other hand, I served my country. Had my unit been called up, I would have gone."

Pre-convention polls showed the race evenly split, though the challenger has lost ground since his convention in Boston a month ago. The four-day Republican convention opens Monday.

Police were out in force guarding New York roadways, bridges, tunnels and ports, while vehicle restrictions on an 18-square-block area around the Garden snarled traffic in a city already congested.

Inside the hall, the transformation from sports and entertainment center to convention site was complete, with a custom-made podium filling one side of the hall and thousands of balloons above.

A smattering of delegates had arrived midweek for platform hearings, and scores more were making their way to the city. They won't starve for food or attention. Among the parties planned was a huge gathering at the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and an intimate affair in an apartment high above Fifth Avenue overlooking Central Park.

Bush arrives in his convention city Wednesday after an eight-state campaign swing. He'll spend one night in New York before bolting for the battlegrounds of Pennsylvania, Ohio and beyond shortly after accepting the GOP nomination.