The Republican Party convention gets under way here today with more than 2,000 delegates and several thousand protesters arriving in this eastern seaboard city. Governor George Bush has pulled well ahead of Vice-President Al Gore in a range of opinion polls.
Mr Gore has tried to steal some of Mr Bush's thunder in advance of his formal nomination on Thursday by announcing from his holiday island that he will be naming his running mate on August 8th.
Philadelphia yesterday was overflowing with tens of thousands of demonstrators, Republican delegates and 15,000 accredited media representatives.
The Unity 2000 March, which was planned as the biggest rally of the week, took place in the centre of the city yesterday watched by a large force of police. About 200 diverse groups marched to promote agendas ranging from protecting the environment to workers' rights, abolishing the death penalty and legalising marijuana.
At midday, police estimated that only about 6,000 people were involved, but the demonstration appeared highly organised and featured a plethora of signs and banners as diverse as the individuals carrying them. "Stop The Death Penalty", "Stop Police Terror" and "Star Wars: New Arms Race" were among the slogans scrawled across placards and flags. Anarchists and socialists stood side by side with members of the powerful Teamsters' union and the National Organisation of Women as Republicans were taken to task for their policies, or lack thereof, on such issues as the rights of women and immigrants, the effects of globalisation and the persistence of poverty both within the US and abroad.
A Time/CNN poll has Mr Bush leading Mr Gore by 52 per cent to 36 per cent among likely voters. An ABC-Washington Post poll shows Mr Bush with 53 per cent to Mr Gore's 42 per cent among registered voters. In the same poll a week ago, the two were tied.
A Newsweek poll at the weekend gave Mr Bush a 47 to 40 per cent lead over Mr Gore, with 4 per cent choosing Mr Ralph Nader of the Green Party and 2 per cent for Mr Pat Buchanan, who is seeking the Reform Party nomination.
However, Mr Bush was dismissive of the polls saying "I've watched poll numbers crumble", a reference to the lead his father had over Mr Clinton at one stage in the 1992 election.