2004 Republican National Convention

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The 2004 Republican National Convention, the U.S. presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party, took place from August 30 to September 2, 2004 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The convention is one of a series of historic quadrennial meetings at which the Republican candidate for President of the United States and party platform are formally adopted. Attendance includes 2,509 delegates and 2,344 alternate delegates from the states, territories and overseas dependencies. The convention marks the formal end of the active primary election season, although the primaries were essentially uncontested; there was no legitimate challenge to the incumbent, George W. Bush.

Related Topics:
U.S. presidential nominating convention - Republican Party - August 30 - September 2 - 2004 - Madison Square Garden - New York City - New York - Historic quadrennial meetings - President of the United States - Party platform - Primary election - Incumbent - George W. Bush

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The theme of the convention was "Fulfilling America's Promise by Building a Safer World and a More Hopeful America." Defining moments of the 2004 Republican National Convention include a featured keynote address by Zell Miller and the confirmation of the nomination of incumbent George W. Bush as the candidate for President and of incumbent Dick Cheney as the candidate for Vice President. Bush and Cheney faced the Democratic Party's ticket of John Kerry and John Edwards in the 2004 presidential election.

Related Topics:
Keynote address - Zell Miller - George W. Bush - President - Dick Cheney - Vice President - Democratic Party's - John Kerry - John Edwards - 2004 presidential election

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The convention faced unprecedented protests in New York City throughout the week (see 2004 Republican National Convention protest activity), including a massive march on the Sunday preceding the convention and repeated infiltration of the convention by protestors. 1806 people were officially arrested during the week, the vast majority on minor charges. Mass arrests and illegal detentions (for which the City of New York was fined) led Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) to comment that "The performance of police was decidedly a mixed one. While hundreds of thousands of people were able to make their voices heard, the right to protest was severely undermined by the mass arrests of hundreds of peaceful demonstrators and bystanders, the pervasive surveillance of lawful demonstrators, and the illegal fingerprinting and prolonged detention of 1500 people charged with mostly minor offenses. This compromised their Constitutional right to protest." In most cases, charges were dropped after protesters were released. The New York Times reported on 8/24/05, that after requests were made by Congressman John Conyers, Jr., the Justice Department decided to investigate whether or not the civil rights of those arrested had been violated. Those investigations are ongoing.

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