HILADELPHIA - As Dylan Glenn, a Georgia delegate, strode through a media tent and onto the sprawling floor of the First Union Center, he gave a strong handshake to a black television producer. Then, he patted the back of an older, white politician from Georgia before pausing to extol the conservative ideology of his party to a passerby.
The son of African-American educators, Glenn, 31, says his values are reflected here at the National Republican Convention, among a sea of white faces.
''I am comfortable here. This is my party. They share my own values,'' he said. ''The reason I am a Republican today is because my daddy always preached individual hard work and responsibility.''
Glenn, the president of South Georgia Economic Development Corp., is among a small pool of African-American, Hispanic, and Asian delegates. They call themselves the new messengers of the GOP.
Since the first day of the convention, the Republicans have assiduously emphasized inclusiveness. Five out of 12 speakers during the opening night of the convention were members of minority groups. Outside the convention halls, African-American, Asian, and Latino delegates who make up less than 5 percent of the delegation have been courted at luncheons especially for them. This week, Republicans ran Spanish radio ads in some of the nation's largest markets.
But behind the television lights, the politically correct advertisements, and emotional speeches, minority delegates like Glenn say they were drawn to the Republican Party's strong positions on free enterprise, family values, and military defense.
''This is where I belong,'' said Texas delegate Juntas Poderno, 42, who is Hispanic. ''I am a new Republican. Young and inclusive.''
Said Gil Medina, a prominent businessman and New Jersey delegate, ''I truly believe that the GOP will be the party of the future for minorities - black, white, and Hispanic.''
Others, like Dan Lewis, a Native-American delegate from Arizona, and Mary Torres from Guam said the GOP's hard-line pro-defense position is the reason more minorities are turning to the Republican Party, which minorities have long accused of ignoring them. Torres said additional closings of military bases could hurt Guam economically.
But even optimistic Republicans concede that George W. Bush and other party leaders have a long road ahead of them if they really want to capture more minority votes. Prior to the New Deal, blacks voted predominantly Republican, the party of Abraham Lincoln. And as Condoleeza Rice reminded the delegates Tuesday night, Republicans signed up black voters when the Dixiecrats turned them away.
But the hold the party once had on the African-American vote disappeared long ago. Since the 1960s, African-Americans have been the most loyal of all Democrats.
''We have a long way to go,'' said Senator Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican. ''But personally, I am tired of the Democrats thinking they own the black vote.''
Only 12 percent of black voters supported Bush's father in 1992. That same year Bill Clinton won 72 percent of the black vote. Clinton also took home a whopping 61 percent of the Hispanic vote eight years ago.
Democrats argue that the Republicans' display of diversity this week was a mirage since only 4 percent of the delegates are Hispanic and 5 percent are African-American.
''When our convention takes place, you won't only see a stage of minorities, but you will be able to look across the the audience to see delegates that look like America,'' said Fred Humphries, a political director for the Democratic National Convention, which opens Aug. 14 in Los Angeles.
Other critics question the depth of Bush's devotion to minority concerns. One piece of evidence they cite: Bush's choice of Dick Cheney as his running mate. Cheney, while a congressman in the 1980s, voted against a resolution that called for sanctions if Nelson Mandela was not freed from jail.
Humphries said the Democrats' support of affirmative action, civil rights issues, and empowerment zones is hard proof that the party is truly interested in minority issues.
Still, Medina, who was born in Puerto Rico but grew up in Camden, N.J., said the lessons of hard work and self-reliance taught by his parents reflect the ideology of the Republican Party not the Democrats.
Medina said when he began asking Democrats in New Jersey to invest in businesses in the area's poorest communities, they refused. He said it was Republican businessmen and GOP civic leaders who began providing loans and grants to struggling minority businesses.
In 1994, Medina became New Jersey's first and only Hispanic commerce secretary under Republican Governor Christine Todd Whitman. He points to himself, as well as former General Colin Powell and Rice, who is Bush's foreign policy adviser, as shining examples of how Republicans are providing gifted minorities with opportunities while also using their skills to shape the party.
''As a child, my family was dirt poor, and yet under a Republican I was chosen to become secretary of commerce,'' said Medina.
Already, he said, Bush's popularity is growing among Hispanic voters. In Texas, Bush won 40 percent of the Hispanic vote in 1998. Part of the appeal, said Medina, is the fact that Bush speaks Spanish, has a Mexican-born sister-in-law, and has promised to improve relations with Latin America.
Others say Bush's appearance at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People convention in July was a clear sign he is working to bridge a long-standing gap between black voters and the GOP.
At the NAACP gathering, Bush chided his party for ignoring black issues and declared that civil rights would be the cornerstone of his presidency.
This summer, he even courted Hispanics at the National Council of La Raza in San Diego and black members of the Congress of Equality.
''This is for real,'' said Glenn who is also running for Congress. ''This is not a show.''
