McCain Accepts Nomination, Says He'll Fight to Restore Party Principles

ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 5, 2008 — -- Republican presidential nominee John McCain accepted his party's nomination Thursday night in a speech designed to recast the conservative party of President Bush and Karl Rove into his own maverick image.

The Republican presidential nominee and former fighter pilot used his grueling experience as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War to emphasize his toughness and his qualifications to lead the country.

"I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's. I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here. I loved it for its decency; for its faith in the wisdom, justice and goodness of its people. I loved it because it was not just a place but an idea, a cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again. I wasn't my own man anymore. I was my country's," McCain said.

Now that McCain and Democrat Barack Obama have both accepted their parties' nominations and their conventions are over, the two presidential contenders will battle for the upperhand on every one of the 60 days left for campaigning.

WATCH SEN. BARACK OBAMA THIS SUNDAY ON "THIS WEEK WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS" AT 9 A.M. ETOn the day after McCain officially became the GOP nominee, there was ammunition for both sides in an ABC News poll on the vice presidential candidates. The survey was taken after McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, gave a rousing speech to the Republican National Convention Wednesday night.

The relatively unknown Palin made a good first impression with 50 percent of those polled having a favorable opinion of her. But only 42 percent believed she had the necessary experience to be vice president. On the Democratic side, 66 percent believed Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, had the right experience to be a VP.

Palin's widely viewed convention speech has been credited with galvanizing the Republican base, but it has apparently revved up the Democrats as well.

The Obama campaign reports that in the 24-hour period after Palin's speech it raised more than $10 million. That's a one-day record for the Obama campaign.

But on Thursday night, it was McCain's turn to rouse the faithful, and he appealed to the country by touting his record of taking on the status quo.

"I've fought corruption, and it didn't matter if the culprits were Democrats or Republicans. They violated their public trust, and had to be held accountable. I've fought big spenders in both parties, who waste your money on things you neither need nor want, while you struggle to buy groceries, fill your gas tank and make your mortgage payment."

"I fought for the right strategy, and more troops in Iraq, when it wasn't a popular thing to do," the Arizona senator continued. "And when the pundits said my campaign was finished, I said I'd rather lose an election than see my country lose a war."

McCain touched ever so briefly on foreign policy, the economy and energy independence, but the bulk of his speech was devoted to painting himself as a man of character with a record of agitating against the status quo of his party and congressional spending in Washington.

"You know, I've been called a maverick; someone who marches to the beat of his own drum. Sometimes it's meant as a compliment and sometimes it's not. What it really means is I understand who I work for. I don't work for a party. I don't work for a special interest. I don't work for myself. I work for you," McCain said.

The Republican nominee drew a contrast between himself and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, arguing he is best prepared to lead the nation.

McCain offered praise for Obama's achievement in attaining the Democratic presidential nod but the pleasantries were brief.

"Again and again, I've worked with members of both parties to fix problems that need to be fixed," said McCain. "That's how I will govern as president. I will reach out my hand to anyone to help me get this country moving again. I have that record and the scars to prove it. Sen. Obama does not."

In another thinly veiled shot across the bow at his Democratic rival, McCain said, "I'm not running for president because I think I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need."

The Obama campaign took issue with McCain's address.

"He admonished the 'old, do-nothing crowd' in Washington but ignored the fact that he's been part of that crowd for 26 years, opposing solutions on health care, energy and education," Obama campaign Bill Burton said in a statement released to the press following McCain's speech.

"He talked about bipartisanship but didn't mention that he's been a Bush partisan 90 percent of the time, that he's run a Karl Rove campaign, and that he wants to continue this president's disastrous economic and foreign policies for another four years. With John McCain, it's more of the same," Burton concluded.