Helen Thomas:

The Republican Party's 2004 national convention has a moderate face for prime-time viewing, but its platform reflects President Bush's undiluted conservatism.

In a tight race with his Democratic rival, Massachusetts Sen.John Kerry, Bush has been running scared all over the battleground states, fearing he could be denied a second term as was his father in 1992.

On the first night of the convention, the GOP hauled out popular Republicans like Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, moderates who favor gay rights and abortion rights. Both men loyally gave enthusiastic speeches in support of Bush.

During the day, however, party leaders threw a sop to their right-wing supporters on those same red-meat issues.

Just like the Democrats did in Boston last month, the Republicans set out to show themselves as one big happy family. There is even a conciliatory line in the platform summary for advocates of gay and abortion rights. It cites "diversity as a source of strength, not a sign of weakness,"and says:"So we welcome into our ranks all who may hold differing positions."

Missing is the phrase "compassionate conservatism" but then there has been little of that in the Bush administration, especially when it comes to the rights of labor. Bush & Co. have worked to eliminate overtime pay for millions of workers and loosen their occupational safeguards. At the same time, administration leaders urge the job-hungry labor force to join the "ownership society."

The platform predictably calls for permanent tax cuts but gives short shrift to the party's traditional concern about federal budget deficits --now at $445 billion. That red ink is "unwelcome but manageable,"says the Republican platform.

Senate Majority leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., chairman of the platform committee, acknowledged that the planks were tailored to meet presidential specifications, telling reporters: "One of my goals was for there not to be too much light between the president's policy"and the platform.

As for Iraq, the platform said:"As Republicans we do not equivocate, as others have done, about whether America should have gone to war in Iraq."

And it took pot-shots at Kerry, declaring:"We call to account the Democratic nominees for president and vice president, both of whom voted to authorize war in Iraq then later rejected legislation to provide $87 billion in critical supplies and benefits for service members and their families."

Planks on foreign policy endorsed Bush's postwar rationale for the invasion of Iraq, saying that"while the stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction have not yet materialized, we have confirmed that Saddam Hussein had the capability to reconstitute his weapons programs and the desire to do so."And it asserts that the United States " did the right thing."

And in the Bush administration's relentless campaign to try and make us believe that the Iraq war has something to do with the war against terrorism, the platform declares: "Together, we look forward to that day when the war on terror is won, and our military can return home, no longer at risk, our world and our country safe."

On Monday the president resorted to nuance about the war against terrorism that he later regretted. In an interview on NBC-TV's "Today Show,"Bush said he doesn't expect that there would be "a final surrender or a treaty like we have in wars past."

His remarks represented a Bush flip-flop and provoked a political uproar. He quickly tried to recoup on Tuesday in a speech to the American Legion in Nashville, Tenn., where he told the vets:"We meet today in a time of war for our country, a war we did not start, yet one that we will win."

The platform parted company with Vice President Cheney when it rejected the concept that same -sex marriage should be left to the states and called for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and woman. Cheney, who has an openly gay daughter, said recently that the issue should be left to the states."

The party bowed to the power of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and opposed federal licensing of gun owners and national gun registration. There was no mention of the expiration in two weeks of the 10-year ban on assault weapons. Bush has declined to push for an extension.

The platform also backed Bush's limits on stem cell research and called for privatization of a portion of Social Security, a move critics say would leave beneficiaries at the mercy of unstable Wall Street markets.

The platform is not binding, but it is eloquent testimony to the Republican Party's relentless swing to the right.

Copyright 2004 Hearst Newspapers