Fresh from his widely-praised acceptance speech at the Republican Convention, the Governor of Texas, Mr George W. Bush, has plunged into a whistle-stop campaign in three key states which he hopes to win back from the Democrats.
Mr Bush and his running mate, Mr Dick Cheney, yesterday began a three-day train trip through Ohio, Michigan and Illinois, buoyed up by a jump in the polls and the "bounce" from what is seen as the most successful Republican convention in over a decade.
Mr Bush began the day by a meeting with religious leaders. He told them: "A prayer breakfast is a good ending to what has been a fantastic experience."
Political commentators and influential newspapers agreed that Mr Bush had put in an impressive performance on the concluding night of the convention when he brought the cheering delegates repeatedly to their feet with his refrain: "This Administration had its chance. They have not led. We will."
Portraying himself as a Washington outsider, Mr Bush said: "I have no stake in the bitter arguments of the last few years. I want to change the tone of Washington to one of civility and respect."
The Gore campaign was not impressed. Mr Gore's spokesman, Mr Douglas Hattaway, said Mr Bush offered "many soaring phrases, but the reality is that Bush is compassionate for the rich and conservative for everyone else".
In a detailed rebuttal of the Bush speech which proposed tax cuts, reform of social security and health insurance, and a strengthening of defence including an anti-missile system, the Gore campaign said the speech "offered up only the tired, old Republican formula of personal attacks, vague phrases and rehashed platitudes".
But the influential New York Times and Washington Post, which both support Mr Gore, commented that Mr Bush will now be hard to beat next November. The Post said that M7r Bush's "calibrated conservatism may be an argument the Democrats can beat but it's not one they can simply flick aside as rhetorical".
The Times commented that the Bush-Cheney team "represents a considerable danger for Mr Gore and his party this fall".
A bi-partisan poll, Voter.com, showed Mr Bush's lead over Mr Gore increasing to 14 points during this week's convention. Among voters classed as "independent" and who are seen as vital for success, Mr Bush has built up an 18 point lead from a tied position before the convention.
But commentators point out that it is normal for candidates to get a "bounce" in the polls from their conventions and that Mr Gore should also get one when the Democrats meet in Los Angeles beginning on August 14th.
Mr Gore is winding up a short vacation this weekend in North Carolina while he prepares to announce his running mate next Tuesday.
In his speech, Mr Bush portrayed Mr Gore as a timid Democrat who feared change and the Clinton-Gore eight years in the White House as squandered opportunities as they "coasted through prosperity".
"Our current President embodied the potential of a generation. So many talents. So much charm. Such great skill. But in the end, to what end?" Mr Bush asked.
As for Mr Gore, "he now leads the party of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. But the only thing he has to offer is fear itself", Mr Bush jibed, paraphrasing Roosevelt's famous phrase during the Depression years that "the only thing to fear is fear itself".
Mr Bush drew loud applause when he told his audience: "My fellow citizens, we can begin again. After all of the shouting and all of the scandal. After all of the bitterness and broken faith. We can begin again." For the Gore campaign, however, it was a speech "short on length, short on substance and short on real ideas for working families".