Republicans nominate Bush their candidate

Almost four hours later, Bush was formally nominated for president of the United States. No other names were offered.

The Republican love fest, that will culminate with Bush accepting the party’s presidential nomination on Thursday night, began with delegates approving without dissent the party platform for the November 7 election.

The document took moderate positions on some issues butretained a hardline anti-abortion plank that would outlaw the procedure, in all circumstances, even to save the life of a pregnant woman.

"Our platform that we present to you today is one that every Republican can be proud of and one which will carry Governor Bush to the White House," said Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, who chaired the committee that drafted the document.

The main attraction on Monday evening was Bush’s wife Laura, a former teacher and librarian who intended to tell delegates her husband’s top priority was to make sure every child in America had the opportunity to grow up reading and would never give up.

"I sat by his side through some winning and many losing baseball seasons. But George never loses sight of home plate," she intended to say, according to an advance text of her remarks. Bush was part owner and manager of the Texas Rangers baseball team before becoming Governor of Texas in 1995.

Bush has built his campaign around reaching out to all Americans, including his panics and blacks, with his slogan of "compassionate conservatism".