A group of moderate Republicans, many long out of office, called on President Bush and the Republican Party to “come back to the mainstream” on the eve of the Republican National Convention.

“Instead of partisan ideology, which increasingly has led moderates to leave the party, what’s needed is a speedy return to the pragmatic, problem-solving mainstream,” the group called Mainstream 2004 said in newspaper advertisements to be published today.

The “Come Back To The Mainstream” ads say what many moderate Republicans are thinking, said A. Linwood Holton, who was Virginia governor from 1970-74.

The problem lies with the “extremist element that controls the Republican Party, which has polarized this country,” Mr. Holton said.

The group in its ads called on Mr. Bush and the GOP to “stop weakening environmental law,” start using “payas-you-go” budget discipline to end deficits, clear the way for embryonic stem cell research, and appoint mainstream federal judges.

The list of Republicans signing the ad include former GOP governors such as David Cargo of New Mexico, Dan Evans of Washington, William Milliken of Michigan, and Walter Peterson of New Hampshire; former U.S. senators, including Charles Mathias of Maryland and Robert Stafford of Vermont; a former assistant interior secretary under Presidents Nixon and Ford, Nathaniel Reed, and an EPA administrator under Messrs. Nixon and Ford, Russell Train.