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September 4th, 2008 at 11:52 pm

Video & Photos: John McCain Acceptance Speech Republican National Convention 2008 9-4-08

John McCain Republican Presidential nomination acceptance speech, Republican National Convention 2008 - September 4, 2008

Republican Presidential candidate Senator John McCain delivered his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention 2008 (RNC) at the Xcel Energy Center on September 4, 2008 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Senator John McCain, the former prisoner of war whose bid for the White House appeared in complete collapse just one year ago, accepted the Republican presidential nomination Thursday with a pledge to move the nation beyond “partisan rancor” and narrow self-interest in a speech in which he markedly toned down the blistering attacks on Barack Obama that had filled the first nights of his convention.

John McCain Republican Presidential nomination acceptance speech, Republican National Convention 2008 - September 4, 2008

Standing in the center of an arena here, surrounded by thousands of Republican delegates, Mr. McCain firmly signaled that he intended to seize the mantle of change Mr. Obama claimed in his own unlikely bid for his party’s nomination.

Roberta McCain and Sarah Palin in the audience at John McCain's Republican Presidential nomination acceptance speech, Republican National Convention 2008 - September 4, 2008

Sarah Palin with John McCain’s mother, Roberta McCain

Mr. McCain suggested that his choice of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate gave him the license to run as an outsider against Washington, even though he has served in Congress for more than 25 years.

“Let me offer an advance warning to the old, big-spending, do-nothing, me-first-country-second Washington crowd: Change is coming,” Mr. McCain said.

John McCain Republican Presidential nomination acceptance speech, Republican National Convention 2008 - September 4, 2008

With his speech, Mr. McCain laid out the broad outlines of his general election campaign. He sought to move from a convention marked by an intense effort to reassure the party base to an appeal to a broader general election audience that polling suggests has turned sharply on Republicans and President Bush. He invoked, in one of the most emotional moments of the night, his struggles as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

Mr. McCain also returned to what has been his signature theme as a presidential candidate, including in his unsuccessful 2000 campaign: that he is a politician prepared to defy his own party. He used the word “fight” 43 times during of the speech, as he sought to present himself as the insurgent he was known as before the primaries, when he veered to the right.

John McCain Republican Presidential nomination acceptance speech, Republican National Convention 2008 - September 4, 2008

“Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight,” he said at the end of his speech. “Nothing is inevitable here. We’re Americans, and we never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history.”

[…]

One of the livelier moments of the evening came when Mr. McCain was interrupted by several anti-war protestors who had infiltrated the hall. Their signs were quickly ripped from their hands, and they were carried out of the arena as the crowd shouted, “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!”

Mr. McCain, who by now has become accustomed to these kinds of interruptions, responded with a smile. “Please don’t be diverted by the ground noise and the static,” Mr. McCain said, before adding “Americans want us to stop yelling at each other.”

John McCain with Cindy McCain and Sarah Palin, after he delivered his Republican Presidential nomination acceptance speech, Republican National Convention 2008 - September 4, 2008

John McCain with his wife, Cindy McCain and Sarah Palin, and her husband Todd Palin

Mr. McCain faced the challenge on Wednesday of pivoting from appealing to Republican base voters to the larger general election audience watching him. Accordingly, they were relatively few mentions of divisive social issues, like abortion, as he returned sharply to the historic way he has presented himself to voters: as an iconoclast willing to challenge his own party. That image has been altered this year as he as appeared to adjust some positions in navigating the nominating contests.

John McCain with Sarah Palin, after he delivered his Republican Presidential nomination acceptance speech, Republican National Convention 2008 - September 4, 2008

John McCain and Sarah Palin

“You know, I’ve been called a maverick; someone who marches to the beat of his own drum,” he said. “ 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.”

Source: McCain Vows to End ‘Partisan Rancor,’ Seizing Theme of Change From Rival

Photo credit: Getty Images North America