by Pan Yunzhao, Wang Faen

    NEW YORK, Sept. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- As being officially nominated in the Republican National Convention as the party's presidential candidate, George W. Bush will continue to focus his campaign on anti-terrorism and homeland security, which some analysts said is his best hope for winning reelection.

    Keynote speakers at the four-day Republican convention, which opened Monday and ended Thursday night, launched fierce attacks onthe Democratic nominee, Senator John Kerry on issues ranging from Iraq, his service in the Vietnam War to his voting record in the Senate, while lavishing praises on Bush's performance over the past four years since he took office in January 2001.

    John McCain, a maverick senator who ran a unsuccessful campaignagainst Bush to seek the party's nomination four year ago, and twoformer mayors of New York City, Rudolph Giuliani and Ed Koch, spoke on the first night of the convention, trying to rekindle voters' memory of the Sept. 11 terror attacks so as to reinforce Bush's image as a decisive leader on issues of anti-terrorism and homeland security.

    The theme of the convention -- "A Safer World and a More Hopeful America" -- a nearly-100-page platform that devoted about 40 pages to "Winning the War on Terror," and the publication of Bush's speeches since his presidency, "Record of Accomplishment," were efforts trying to send a message that only Bush had the capabilities to lead the United States in a changing world, particularly when the country was still at war on terror.

    It seems that Bush's team has developed a strategy of fully exploiting the trump card of "anti-terrorism", as different polls showed that American voters tended to trust Bush on anti-terrorismand homeland security, and on economy and major domestic issues, they opted to support Kerry.

    When Kerry outrivaled his Democratic challengers to become the party's presumptive nominee in March, the 2004 presidential race had in fact become a competition between Bush and the Massachusetts senator.

    After following polls showed a lead by Kerry in public opinions,the Bush administration in April issued a public warning that intelligence indicated terrorists might be plotting to attack the United States before the November elections.

    Shortly after the Democratic convention in Boston in late July, polls showed Kerry enjoyed a climb in public support, leading Bushby several to over 10 percentages points on some issues.

    Again, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced in earlyAugust to elevate the terror threat levels for some key financial centers in New York, Washington and New Jersey citing information indicating terrorists might strike these buildings.

    The leading actor of another episode in August that caught muchpublic attention is a group of pro-Bush veterans, "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth", who ran advertisement on televisions questioning Kerry's Vietnam War record and accusing him of lying to get his war medals.

    Kerry's war experience was one of his major advantages over Bush, and one of the major themes of the Democratic convention wasto publicize Kerry's war experience to demonstrate his leadership in the war on terror. The advertisement caused severe damage to Kerry's campaign, resulting in a shift in public opinion.

    A latest poll published by The Washington Post on Tuesday showed that Bush held clear advantages over Kerry on national security issues and leadership in the war on terrorism, despite voters' continued doubts about the president's performance in handling the economy and Iraq.

    The Washington Post-ABC News poll found that a slight majority of registered voters, 53 percent, said Bush was more qualified than Kerry to be a commander-in-chief, while 43 percent said they preferred the Democratic nominee. At the end of the Democratic convention, Kerry enjoyed an eight-point advantage over Bush on that issue.

    Some analysts said the only advantage that Bush could fully exploit to win reelection was the war on terror. The Sept. 11 attacks turned Bush from a weak president to a strong president, and the subsequent terror warnings issued by the administration have constantly reminded the American people that the country was still at war on terror. The unspoken message was: the president was experienced in the war on terror, and only Bush could handle similar crises and protect the country from another attack. Enditem