NEW YORK -- As Republicans began converging on the city to renominate a wartime president, the largest protest ever at a political convention was staged yesterday in Manhattan, a largely peaceful march against President Bush and the Iraq war that underscored the deep divisions within the nation as the fall campaign approaches.

A group carrying what was described as 1,000 coffins representing U.S. dead in Iraq marches past Madison Square Garden during the anti-Bush march organized by United for Peace and Justice in New York Sunday, August 29, 2004, on the eve of the Republican National Convention. (AP Photo/Ted Warren)

Five weeks after the Democratic convention in Boston, the antiwar protest in steamy Manhattan presaged a bitter contest between Bush and John F. Kerry and between two competing visions of America's role in the world after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The Republican National Convention opens tonight, and Bush accepts the party's nomination Thursday, marking the start of the final two months of campaigning before the Nov. 2 election.

Estimates of how many participated in the protest march neared 400,000 people, with the procession stretching for miles. But little of the predicted violence and unrest materialized. About 200 people were arrested, some for blocking roadways, others for assaulting police. The marchers followed a plan set by New York officials, snaking along a horseshoe-shaped route through New York's cordoned-off streets, then peacefully dispersing at the end.

Anger at Bush pervaded the gathering. Some signs read ''Bush lied, thousands died" and ''Bush: Empty Warhead." Protesters defaced photos of Bush and poked fun at his family and upbringing. ''No more years," many chanted.

Meanwhile, in hotels and ballrooms across the city, Bush's supporters prepared for their weeklong political celebration of his four years in the White House.

The gathering was expected to be the largest protest during the four-day convention. ''It was the largest demonstration since the war began; we feel like we succeeded in combating the rhetoric the Republicans will be issuing from the convention," said Bob Wing, national cochairman of United for Peace and Justice, which organized the protest.

The assemblage, marching in the sweltering August heat, took nearly five hours to file past Madison Square Garden, the convention site in midtown Manhattan. New York police, in keeping with recent policy, refused to offer a crowd estimate. Protest organizers boasted 400,000 people, and several police officers on the scene said there seemed to be more than the predicted 250,000.

Previously, the largest protest at a national party convention occurred the day before Republicans met in Philadelphia in 2000, when 12,000 leftists marched for various causes. In 1968, the raucous protests at the Democratic convention in Chicago involved up to several thousand demonstrators.

Yesterday, opposition to the US occupation of Iraq was the day's overwhelming theme, beginning in the morning, when the march's lead organizer, Leslie Cagan, told the gathering: ''We want the troops brought home now. Not tomorrow, not next week. Now."

Protesters makes their way toward Madison Square Garden during the anti-Bush march organized by United for Peace and Justice in New York Sunday, Aug. 29, 2004, on the eve of the Republican National Convention. Both man in front are unidentified. (AP Photo/Jennifer Szymaszek)

Earlier this month, Republican operatives said they would seek to link any protest violence with Kerry, the Democratic nominee. But Kerry's campaign has distanced itself from the protests, which began Thursday.

Many protesters expressed disdain for Kerry's refusal to denounce the invasion of Iraq, and said they would not vote for him. A sign at the head of the march offered a twist on Kerry's famous denunciation three decades ago of the Vietnam War, saying: ''How do you ask a soldier to be the last person to die for a lie?" Organizers said the sign was meant to warn Kerry that many considered his vote for the Iraq war a betrayal of his past.

Most protesters were white, although other racial and ethnic groups were represented, and they ranged from grandmothers to schoolchildren. The protesters came from all over the nation, as well as Canada and several European countries. New York, a majority Democratic state, was heavily represented.

''Bush has been disastrous for our country, especially the arrogance of his foreign policy," said Sean T. O'Connor, 33, of the Bronx, whose stepfather was killed on the plane that hit the Pentagon on Sept. 11. ''He's fighting wars we don't need to fight."

Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said, ''For most Americans, those out on the street today represent a viewpoint that is outside of the mainstream."

But recent polls have indicated that a majority of Americans think the Iraq invasion was a mistake, with an even larger percentage skeptical about the prospects for peace in the country.

The march began on 24th Street and proceeded north on Seventh Avenue. When demonstrators reached Madison Square Garden, they cheered and jeered at onlookers standing on the steps of the arena. But tension expected at that moment did not materialize. Many protesters had said they would march north to Central Park, where they were not permitted to rally, but a wall of police officers barricaded the street, forcing them to turn away.

''It's been very peaceful," Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne said. ''We all along felt that if there was any vandalism, it would be from small groups not connected to the marchers."

Many protesters said they were drawn to the demonstration because of their dislike of Bush, but they seemed mostly indifferent about Kerry, who has pledged to keep American troops in Iraq, at least in the short-term.

''I think he will get over that," said Igor Bobrowsky, a former Marine who served in the Vietnam War and received two Purple Hearts. ''I think he should look back at his testimony in 1971 when he asked, 'How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam?' I think he should now ask how many men will be the last to die for a lie."

Kerry's statement in 1971 was, ''How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

Philip Greenspan, 78, of Spring Valley, N.Y., flashed a thumbs-down when asked whether he would back Kerry. ''He's worse than Bush. He wants to bring in more troops," Greenspan said. ''I'm not going to vote for anybody. No matter who wins, the same policies will be implemented."

Near Madison Square Garden, about 200 Bush supporters gathered to respond to the marchers.

''They're a bunch of left-wing pinko communists, and that is about as blunt as I can get," said Ruben Israel, 43, who had traveled from Los Angeles.

Hundreds of Massachusetts residents participated in the antiwar march. Alexis Sullivan of Somerville wore pink sunglasses and a long, pink nightgown with the words ''Pink Slip Bush" as she marched with pink-clad women from the antiwar group CODEPINK, chanting, ''Hey hey, ho ho, George Bush has got to go!"

Globe staff writer Marcella Bombardieri contributed to this report. Material from the Associated Press also was used

Copyright © 2004, The Boston Globe

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