Bush, eldest son of the 41st president, was identified early as the party establishment's frontrunner and turned back a strong primary challenge from John McCain, a Vietnam War veteran and U.S. Senator from Arizona. At the convention, the party and campaign sought to showcase Bush's slogan of compassionate conservatism to persuade undecided voters.
Instead of holding the roll call of states on one night, the Bush campaign arranged for the voting to take place over four nights, so that Bush would eventually build up support throughout the week, culminating with Cheney's home state of Wyoming finally putting him over the top on the final night. There were few defections, despite a large contingent of delegates having been elected to support McCain, who formally released them to Bush. The convention then voted by acclamation to make the convention nomination unanimous. Cheney's nomination as vice president had also been approved by acclamation on Wednesday night, so Cheney could address the convention later that night as the official nominee.
Cheney's convention address was the first to include sustained attacks on Vice President Al Gore, the presumptive Democratic nominee -- whereas most of the speakers who came before him criticized the vice president only briefly, or without mentioning his name. Cheney, however, was given latitude to lob various direct attacks on Clinton and Gore, and even reprised a line that Gore had used in his 1992 convention address attacking the first President Bush: "It is time for them to go." This was the first vice-presidential acceptance speech in recent memory to be held the night before the presidential nominee's address. The standard practice at the time was for both nominees to give their speeches the same night. Cheney's speech began a tradition of vice-presidential nominees headlining their own night at the convention; two weeks later, at the Democratic convention, that party's vice-presidential nominee, Joe Lieberman, also spoke on the third night as opposed to the final night.
Bush's Acceptance Speech
Bush attacked the Clinton administration as weak on defense and military topics, high taxes, underfunded schools, high pollution, and a lack of dignity and respect to the presidency. He attacked the Clinton administration's military policies, claiming that American troops "weren't ready for duty, sir." He also claimed the Clinton administration failed to provide leadership, saying, "They had their chance. They have not led. We will."
In July 1999, the LGBT+ community of Philadelphia held two protests on July 29 and 30. They did this in objection to Philadelphia hosting the Republican National Convention. The protests resulted in the arrest of over 300 people. The initial protest was not target to the Republican Party specifically, rather, it was a call to change from both Republican and Democratic parties. The protesters felt that both political parties for the most part, ignored the needs and issues surrounding the LGBT community.
