HOME	SEPTEMBER 04th, 2004

SEPT 04

NEW YORK - The ruling New National Party (NNP) of Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell has sent a two-member delegation to attend the Republican National Convention to ratify the nomination of President George W. Bush for November's Presidential elections.

The delegation is headed by Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Political Leader, Gregory Bowen who hold the post of Minister of Public Utilities in the administration in St. George's.

The other member of the party is Senator Nigel Stewart, a barrister-at-law by profession. Sen. Stewart flew out of the Point Salines International Airport (PSIA) on Saturday to make his way to New York to attend the Republican Convention.

The NNP is closely associated with the Republicans in the right-wing dominated International Democratic Union (IDU). NNP insiders have said that Bowen and Stewart were "hand-picked" to attend the convention.

According to sources, the executive was told about the selection of the party officials for the first time on Saturday at a meeting at Mt. Helicon, the head office on the NNP. Wednesday was the third day of the convention and it was expected to focus on U.S Vice-President Dick Cheney, who has been described as one of the most powerful - and controversial - vice presidents in recent history in the United States.

Delegates will officially nominate Cheney as the GOP's vice presidential candidate before he addresses the group Wednesday night. He'll be introduced by his wife, Lynne Cheney. "I think that the vice president's speech tonight is going to be about big issues, the big issues of this campaign - the war on global terror, the president's education policy, the fact that the economy is turning up again," she told CNN's "American Morning."

She said she had known her husband since he was 14 and planned to share anecdotes that many people have not heard before in her introduction.

Maverick Democratic Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia is scheduled to deliver Wednesday's keynote address - a role he also played at the 1992 Democratic National Convention, which nominated President Clinton.

In the earlier speech, Miller, then governor of Georgia, said that "for 12 dark years, the Republicans have dealt in cynicism and skepticism. They have mastered the art of division and diversion, and they have robbed us of our hope." Miller has since broken with his party and sided with President Bush on issues such as tax cuts and his handling of the war against terror.

Convention organizers will promote the theme "A Land of Opportunity" on Wednesday, and speakers also will include Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

President Bush, who officially won his party's nomination Tuesday, is scheduled to arrive in New York on Wednesday evening after a campaign stop in Ohio. Bush is set to accept the nomination in a speech Thursday.