US President George W. Bush, will be hoping to build on recent momentum in the presidential election when he delivers the biggest speech of his campaign tonight at the Republican National Convention.
President Bush with his wife Laura
The prime-time televised address at Madison Square Garden, New York, is likely to set the tone for the final two months of an election generally regarded as the most important and most aggressive for 40 years.
The most recent polls show Mr Bush running neck-and-neck with Democrat candidate Mr John Kerry, but convention speeches generally give candidates a significant bounce.
Mr Bush will be particularly looking to exploit that trend and cement his lead ion the key issues, particularly national security and foreign policy.
According to pre-released excerpts from his acceptance speech, Mr Bush will tell delegates he was leading the war on terror "not for pride, not for power, but because the lives of our citizens are at stake."
"We are staying on the offensive - striking terrorists abroad - so we do not have to face them here at home," he will say. "This moment in the life of our country will be remembered. Generations will know if we kept our faith and kept our word."
Although the president will defend his decision to go to war in Iraq and recount his response to September 11th, he also has promised a speech that looks to the future. It will include new domestic policy proposals, aides said, possibly including a renewed call for broad tax reform.
The issue could be a potential banana skin for the former governor of Texas as his tax cuts for the rich have attracted broad criticism - particularly with over one million more people unemployed compared to four years ago.
After Vice President Dick Cheney and convention keynote speaker Senator Zell Miller, a Democratic senator from Georgia, made the most stinging assault of the campaign on Mr Kerry from the podium last night, Democrats described the display as "a night of angry old men".
They noted Mr Cheney attacked Mr Kerry 30 times - mentioning him by name on 14 occasions - while mentioning the word "job" just twice.
"There was a lot of hate coming from that podium tonight," said Mr Kerry's vice presidential running mate, Mr John Edwards.
When asked by reporters if he took some blows from Republicans, Mr Kerry replied "Oh, I don't think so."