The 42-year-old, four-term congressman took the stage at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo accompanied by the theme from "Rocky" and holding his wife's hand, waving and giving a thumbs-up to the crowd. (The "Rocky" theme may have had a double meaning: Lazio was sporting a severely swollen and stitched-up lip Tuesday, the result of a slip and fall during a Memorial Day march.)

Standing before a huge, Patton-like American flag, Lazio didn't quite match the level of vitriol that the day's other Republican elected officials directed at his opponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton. But, using the carpetbagger issue which has been the early focus of his campaign, he quickly staked out his turf as the true New Yorker in the race and painted himself as the underdog.

"I begin this campaign with no illusions," he said, in a delivery that rarely deviated from his prepared script, which even included directions for him to smile at a certain point. "I am the underdog in this race. My opponent is better financed and better known. She comes to New York with the support of every left-wing special interest, from Washington insiders to the Hollywood elite. But as I've said before, 'Bring 'em on.'"

In his roughly half-hour speech to more than 400 GOP delegates, Lazio never mentioned Clinton by name, but devoted much of his speech drawing a distinction between him and his unnamed opponent. "I have on advantage she will never have: I can be myself," he said. "I am a New Yorker. You see, for me, New York is not just a mailing address, it's my home."

Immediately after his speech, Lazio sped over to Dunn Tire Park, the home of the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, where -- backed by fireworks and exploding confetti -- the campaign unveiled the John McCain-style bus Lazio will use to tour the state during the next three days: The Mainstream Express!

No joke. That's really what it's called.

Much of Tuesday's nominating convention, which was emceed by state Republican Party chairman William Powers, consisted of the state's top Republicans stepping to the podium and taking turns soundly whopping Clinton upside the head.

Former Republican Rep. Joseph DioGuardi: "Hillary Clinton likes to say how much she loves New York. That's great. We love tourists, too, don't we?"

Erie County Comptroller Nancy Naples: "Maybe they anoint their senators in Arkansas, but in New York, Mrs. Clinton, we elect our senators."

Gov. George Pataki, who formally nominated Lazio, said: "They're running someone who's not a New Yorker, someone who hasn't paid taxes in New York, someone who hasn't gone to school in New York or sent a child to school in New York, someone who has never lived in New York and understood the pain that the Cuomo policies inflicted on the people of New York state. We're not gonna go back to that! ... Rick Lazio, when he wears a New York hat -- a sports team hat -- it actually fits."

Joseph Bruno, the always intriguing state Senate majority leader, offered some humor not directed at Clinton: "My wife saw Rick on TV," he explained. "She hadn't met him. She said, 'What a great looking guy. What a great guy.' And you know, when you talk to people, they're right, he projects out, he acts and looks like a winner. But you know, he was so handsome he had to take a tumble. He has now a big lip. ... But he'll get over that."