HILADELPHIA - Basking in the adoration of Republicans who believe he is destined to recapture the White House, Texas Governor George W. Bush triumphantly accepted his party's nomination last night, declaring that the Democratic administration that ousted his father from the White House eight years ago has had ''no great purpose.''
Bush, by contrast, vowed to ''seize this moment of American promise'' and ''extend the promise of prosperity to every forgotten corner of this country.''
Amid the speech's many promises, occasional platitudes and even a bit of Robert Frost's poetry, the governor did not shy away from the attack.
''For eight years, the Clinton-Gore administration has coasted through prosperity,'' Bush said. The governor laid out a litany of lapses, accusing the administration of squandering world leadership, overseeing a ''steady erosion of American power,'' and of leaving millions of children ''trapped in schools where violence is common and learning is rare.''
''The administration had its chance,'' Bush said, in what was intended as the evening's signature statement. ''They have not led. We will.''
It was the most important political speech of Bush's life, aimed beyond the beribboned convention hall to a nationwide television audience, including many undecided voters who might have heard little beyond some 30-second sound bites from the governor until last night's oration.
Bush, 54, who until six years ago had never held elected office, began writing the remarks months ago, and continued to revise them as late as yesterday. But the themes echoed his campaign stump speeches: using prosperity for a greater purpose, restoring honor to Washington, broadening the Republican platform to include voters across the political spectrum.
''We are now the party of ideas and innovation ... The party of idealism and inclusion ... The party of a simple and powerful hope,'' Bush said. ''My fellow citizens, we can begin again.''
Bush then sought to directly answer Vice President Al Gore's charge that Bush's plans for large tax cuts and the partial privatization of Social Security are ''risky schemes.''
''It is the sum of his message,'' Bush said. ''If my opponent had been there at the moon launch, it would have been a `risky rocket scheme.' If he'd been there when Edison was testing the lightbulb, it would have been a `risky anti-candle scheme.''' Then, alluding to Gore's assertion that he helped invent the Internet, Bush said mockingly, ''If he'd been there when the Internet was invented ...
The audience roared.
The Gore campaign, reacting to the speech, issued a caustic statement: ''Governor Bush failed to tell the whole story about how his plans favor the few over America's working families. ... Governor Bush does not want to talk about his record in Texas, or his running mate's record in Congress.''
Nearly six months after Bush sewed up the nomination, and after days of choreographed convention speeches, the evening injected some drama into the presidential campaign by underscoring how much is at stake between now and election day.
This was also a singular moment for the Bush family.
In a box seat sat the nominee's father, former president Bush, himself the son of a US senator. Ousted from office by the Clinton-Gore victory in 1992, the senior Bush has largely refrained from dwelling on his defeat but this week he dutifully made the rounds of television interviews to promote his son.
On the convention floor stood another Bush son, Jeb, the governor of Florida and the man whom some family friends initially believed was most likely to seek the presidency.
And on the stage was the graduate of Sam Houston Elementary School in Midland, Texas - and of the elite institutions of Phillips Academy in Andover, Yale, and Harvard - who presented himself as the outsider, a man who ''may lack the polish of Washington.''
Bush portrayed his lack of Washington experience as a virtue. ''I don't have enemies to fight,'' Bush said. ''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.''
For the first time, said brother Jeb Bush, the Texas governor ''looks like a president to me now.''
''A year ago I wouldn't have told you this,'' Jeb Bush said in an interview on ''Good Morning America.'' ''In all honesty, I thought he had the capacity to be a president, but today when I see him, it's different. ... He's got the right stuff, and I'm incredibly proud of him.''
The candidate's other brother, Marvin, gave a similar assessment. Saying he would not have imagined this of his older brother two decades ago, Marvin Bush said the Texas governor had ''channeled his energy into positive things, and as a result of that, he's been a great achiever ever since.''
''People have suggested that being the son of George Bush is an easy thing. It's not. So he is a survivor,'' Marvin Bush said.
Normally, candidates look for a post-convention bounce after the acceptance speech, but Bush headed into the evening enjoying a sizable jump in the polls from his choice of Dick Cheney as vice president and the party's seamless convention. In a poll taken before Bush spoke, the Texas governor led Al Gore by 48 percent to 34 percent, according to the ''Battleground'' survey sponsored by the Internet company, Voter.com. The survey has a reported margin of error of 3 percent.
Hoping for even more bounce in the polls, Bush trod carefully as he approached the political battles of the fall. Twelve years ago, his father erased a 17-point deficit in the race against Michael Dukakis with an acceptance speech promise of a ''kinder, gentler America,'' a theme the Texas governor echoed in tone last night. But there were major differences: The elder Bush told voters that the best follow-up to eight years of Reaganism were a continuation of Republicanism. Bush's son, known often as ''W,'' last night implicitly acknowledged the prosperity during eight years of Clinton reign, but said a different party should occupy the White House.
The First Union Center was transformed into the political equivalent of a rock concert hall, with spotlights flashing on thousands of screaming fans each time Bush broke for applause. And he broke after virtually every line; the speech, which ran under half an hour in practice, lasted 52 minutes, just managing to finish before the prime-time cut-off. Echoing Bush's vow to win the White House, the audience chanted: ''It won't be long now! It won't be long now!''
Bush last night made no surprising policy declaration as his father did with the 1988 vow of ''Read My Lips, No New Taxes.'' The promise helped elect the elder Bush but the breaking of that vow played a major role in his defeat by the Clinton-Gore team in 1992.
Bush did bring up the issue of abortion - which has long divided his party - but gingerly. Instead of vowing to work for passage of a constitutional amendment to ban abortions, he focused on the most controversial abortion procedure.
''I know good people disagree on this issue, but surely we can agree on ways to value life by promoting adoption and parental notification, and when Congress sends me a bill against partial-birth abortion, I will sign it into law,'' Bush said.
Bush, responding to Gore's charge that he would cut Social Security benefits, declared: ''You earned your benefits, you made your plans, and President George W. Bush will keep the promise of Social Security. ... No changes, no reductions, no way,''
Bush did not follow the example set by Cheney on Wednesday night, when the former defense secretary elicited thunderous applause by borrowing an attack first used by Gore in 1992 against Bush's father. ''It's time for them to go!'' Cheney said of Clinton-Gore, just as Gore had said of Bush-Quayle.
Bush instead appeared as a gentler warrior, preaching harmony, civility, and respect.
''We will seize this moment of American promise. We will use these good times for great goals,'' Bush said. ''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.''
Capitalizing on the wave of publicity generated by his formal nomination, Bush plans to embark today on a three-day train trip through swing states, starting in Pittsburgh and ending on Sunday night in Missouri after a detour through Michigan. He is then expected to spend several days at home in Austin, before heading to the West Coast next week to campaign with McCain, his former rival who during the convention emerged as an outspoken supporter.
Quoting Robert Frost, and indirectly raising the issue of President Clinton's conduct in the Oval Office, Bush said that the highest hope of the Founding Fathers was ''to occupy the land with character.''
''And that, 13 generations later, is still our goal,'' Bush said, ''to occupy the land with character.''
