I want to change the tone of Washington to one of civility and respect." The core themes which Mr Bush is pushing have remained unchanged since he launched his candidacy last year at a ceremony in Austin, Texas: tax cuts, better education, reforming America's pensions scheme and giving more cash to the US military.The campaign has, since the outset, been a rigorously disciplined, tightly organised and very well-funded effort, leaving little to chance and giving few hostages to fortune. A film of Mr Bush's life-story had been prepared to run before his speech, a 9 and a half minute hagiography entitled "The Sky's the Limit." It follows a similiar film used by the Democrats at the 1992 convention, where they showcased Mr Clinton; the republicans have deliberately taken many themes, ideas and tricks from their opponents.At 3,900 words, though shorter than many other acceptance speeches, it was one of the longest he had ever delivered It was also perhaps the most important. Mr Bush said that his speech "speaks from my heart," underlining the optimistic, forward-looking tone that has been set throughout the week Mr Bush said: "I'm going to lift the spirit of the country. When people listen to what I have to say, they're going to say this is a man who sees a positive America, an America for everybody." Karen Hughes, Mr Bush's communications director, said of her boss: "This is a unique moment, and he is a unique leader. It's unique because we have had bipartisan opportunities and it didn't happen. He has a proven ability to bring Republicans and Democrats together."Mr Bush had rehearsed last night's speech intensively, in front of friends and using a TelePrompTer.

A good though hardly brilliant speaker most of the time, last night was his chance to shine in front of a highly partisan, energised and eager audience.Mr Bush and Dick Cheney, his vice-president, both won their nominations late on Wednesday night - hardly surprising, since all the other candidates were out of the race. The convention was once used to select candidates, and sometimes turned into a pitched batle. Those days are long gone; now, it is a mixture of showbusiness and public relations. But the Republicans, who have chosen to showcase what they label a more inclusive and open party, have used the opportunity to the maximum.The campaign traditionally begins after Labor Day in early September, but Mr Bush has made clear that from now until election day in November he will be on the trail. According to the latest tracking poll, Mr Bush now has a solid 14 point lead over Al Gore, the Democratic candidate, of 48 per cent to 34 per cent; Ralph Nader, the Green Party candidate was on 6 per cent and Pat Buchanan on 2 per cent.

That shows the "bounce" which every candidate hopes to gain from the convention. The Democrats hold their show in Los Angeles in ten days time, and Mr Gore will hope that he can recover ground there.. India took the first steps towards peace in Kashmir yesterday when senior government officials began talks with the most important militant Muslim group. The talks got under way after more than 100 people were killed in a series of massacres on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. India took the first steps towards peace in Kashmir yesterday when senior government officials began talks with the most important militant Muslim group. The talks got under way after more than 100 people were killed in a series of massacres on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. The meeting with commanders of the Hizbul Mujahideen, which 11 days ago offered a three-month ceasefire, reflected India's determination to grasp the nettle despite the horrors committed by other separatist groups.But even before the start of yesterday's negotiations in Srinagar, leaders of the Hizbul Mujahideen in Pakistan gave India five days to include Islamabad in the meetings. If this did not happen, they warned, the organisation would review its truce.The mixed messages came as the Indian Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, led a delegation that included the opposition leader, Sonia Gandhi, to Srinagar, where they met families of the victims of the six massacres.

Indian politicians have been calling for a crackdown against the groups behind the attacks, which are being seen in India as an attempt to undermine the hopes for peace raised by Hizbul's ceasefire plan.The start of the talks underlined Mr Vajpayee's assertion that his government would not be cowed by the militants' opposition to Hizbul's stand.The senior bureaucrat in India's interior ministry, Kamal Pande, led a government team that included officials, police and army commanders, and intelligence officers.They met Hizbul's nominated representative, Faizal Haq Qureshi, who is part of the Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference umbrella group of Kashmiri political parties, with four of the militant organisation's military commanders.After 70 minutes both groups emerged to announce that they would form two teams that would in future talk about the way to formalise the ceasefire. No mention of the ultimatum of "tripartite" talks was made.However, the core issue of the future of Kashmir - one- third of which is controlled by Islamabad, which also claims the rest of the territory - could be decided only by Hizbul's leaders based over the border in Rawalpindi.While the discussions amounted to little more than talks about talks, they still represented a significant step forward, as this is the first time the Indian government has sat down with the rebels' military commanders, particularly in such a politically charged atmosphere.The ultimatum issued from Pakistan by the Hizbul leader, Syed Salahuddin, reflected the level of pressure on the organisation, both from within and without. Last week he was suspended from the United Jehad Council, a militant umbrella group, because of the ceasefire, which opponents have described as a "betrayal".Among the conditions he set out for the start of substantive talks on the future of Kashmir, Mr Salahuddin said that negotiations must be "tripartite" - in effect including India, Pakistan and Kashmiri groups, - and that they must be unconditional.Failure to agree to Hizbul's demands by 5pm next Tuesday, he said, would prompt commanders to reconsider their ceasefire, and he warned that "India would have to bear the consequences of that".A Hizbul spokesman, Salim Hashmi, stressed that the discussions taking place in Srinagar were aimed at finding a way to keep the ceasefire alive. "They are discussing the modalities of the ceasefire offer," he said "That's a different issue. Our statement is in the context of actual talks [on Kashmir's future]." Mr Hashmi said that India had given no response to Hizbul's demand for tripartite talks.The likelihood of such talks appears slim, though, because on Wednesday Mr Vajpayee blamed Islamabad for having a hand in the massacres, while Pakistan's military leader, General Pervez Musharraf, accused renegade Indian soldiers of seeking to stir up feuding militant groups..