New York

LAURA BUSH is fond of telling people what a reluctant campaigner she is. She often mentions how, at the beginning of her marriage, she made her husband promise that she would never have to give a speech. Last night Laura made her seventh appearance at a national political convention, and delivered her third national convention speech (she spoke briefly in 1996). She did not look reluctant.

It has been quite a transformation for the first lady. Originally a reticent speaker who was ambivalent about politics, she is now a fierce campaigner for her husband. As she has made this transformation, Laura Bush has adopted a measured, relentlessly on-message speaking style, and not coincidentally, seems to have become more conservative, too.