New York: Amid hundreds of cheering partymen, the Republican Party today (Sep 1, 2004) nominated US President George W Bush as its presidential candidate at the party's national convention in New York, with Hollywood hero Arnold Schwarzenegger and first lady Laura Bush urging voters to re-elect Bush.

Setting the tone for the "terminator" and Laura Bush to deliver their power-packed speeches at the highly fortified Madison Square Garden, delegates officially nominated Bush, while some 1,000 slogan shouting protestors were arrested on the streets for their anti-Bush demonstrations.

Schwarzenegger and Laura Bush, who was introduced by her husband through a live video link from Pennsylvania, stole the show on the second day of the convention and both of them hailed Bush as a crisis man and sought other "four year term" for him.

In a ringing endorsement of her husband, the first lady, who was accompanied by her twin daughters -- Jenna and Barbara -- said Americans could count on Bush especially in times of crisis and justified his decision to attack Iraq.

"Abraham Lincoln didn't want to go to war, but he knew that saving the union required it. Franklin Roosevelt didn't want to go to war, but he knew that defeating tyranny demanded it. And my husband didn't want to go to war, but he knew the safety and security of America and the world depended on it," she said in her prime time address.

Throwing his weight behind Bush, California Governor Schwarzenegger, said Bush was a man of perseverance and inner strength who does not flinch, waver or back down in the face of adversity.

Schwarzenegger in his inimitable style asked everyone to "terminate terror" and said Bush knows "you don't reason with terrorists. You defeat them" as the venue was echoed with chants of "four more years".

The nomination, a mere formality, came earlier when Bush, who is locked in a tough fight with his democratic challenger John Kerry for the November 2 elections, recieved the 1,225th vote in his favour.

As speaker after speaker tried to glorify the policies of Bush, including the battle against AIDS and breast cancer as also reforms carried out by him in education, policemen in riot-gear kept thousands of demonstrators trying to reach the convention venue at bay.

Nearly 1,000 protestors were arrested on the streets of Manhattan and some 1,300 taken into preventive custody as they observed a day of civil obedience. Several groups tried to converge at the venue after playing a game of cat and mouse with the police.

Besides Laura Bush and Schwarzenegger, Senator Bill Frist also addressed the gathering and accused Kerry of making false statements on the stem-cell research issue, saying the President had not issued a "sweeping ban" on research.

Earlier, the First Lady also touched briefly on the controversial subject. She said Bush is the first President to provide federal funding for stem cell research but "he did so in a principled way, allowing science to explore its potential while respecting the dignity of human life".