HILADELPHIA - George W. Bush's biggest fan and best character witness told the Republican National Convention last night that her husband would be a president the American people could trust and respect and a leader who would ''inspire us to dream and to do more.''
''His core principles will not change with the winds of polls or politics or fame or fortune or misfortune,'' Laura Bush said in a prime-time speech opening the convention in Philadelphia. ''I know because I've known him through big legislative successes and a few defeats. I sat by him during some winning and losing baseball seasons.
''George never loses sight of home plate,'' Mrs. Bush said as her in-laws, her mother, and 18-year-old twin daughters looked on proudly from front-row mezzanine seats.
Mrs. Bush, a former librarian and teacher, preceded her husband to Philadelphia so she could speak on education, the first-night theme, which has been important to her as she promoted and advanced literacy and preschool reading programs as the first lady of Texas.
''Education is the living room of my life,'' said Mrs. Bush. Sitting at desks on the convention stage were a dozen students who attend private schools in Houston and the South Bronx in New York where disadvantaged children have made high achievements.
If her husband is elected, Mrs. Bush said, she would make early childhood development one of her priorities and her husband would strengthen Head Start programs to ensure that they stress reading and early learning.
Still, the real purpose of Mrs. Bush's appearance was to personalize her husband - she repeatedly called him ''George'' and recalled how he used to read Dr. Seuss's ''Hop on Pop'' to his children. By portraying her husband as a man of character, discipline, and family values, she drew unspoken distinctions between Bush and President Clinton.
''The president of the United States is more than a man - or a woman, as I hope the case will sometime be,'' Mrs. Bush said in a strong and steady voice. ''The president is the most visible symbol of our country, of its heart and its values, and its leadership in the world. And when Americans vote this November, they will be looking for someone to uphold that high honor and that trust.''
Mrs. Bush said her husband is consistent and principled; he believes in the same things - such as limited government, local control of education, the importance of strong families - that he did when he ran his first, unsuccessful campaign for Congress in 1978, the year after they were married.
''He shares credit, and he doesn't cast blame,'' Mrs. Bush said in her 20-minute speech. ''He sets a tone that's positive and constructive, a tone that is very different from the bitterness and division that too often characterizes Washington, D.C. Finally, George has a strong sense of purpose.''
She said she has been moved on the campaign trail by the number of people who come up to her husband with photos of their children and say: ''I'm counting on you. I want my son or daughter to respect the president of the United States of America.''
Red and blue metallic confetti poured down on Mrs. Bush as she entered the arena and was greeted by a standing ovation. ''OK, that's enough,'' Mrs. Bush said, sounding a little as if she were quieting the second-grade classes she once taught.
Mrs. Bush repeated one of her standard campaign jokes and drew, as usual, a big laugh.
''George's opponent has been visiting schools lately, and sometimes when he does, he spends the night before at the home of a teacher,'' Mrs. Bush said. ''Well, George spends every night with a teacher.''
