McCain's speech: 'Change is coming'
RIO RANCHO -- John McCain, a sometime maverick who has bucked one faction or another of the Republican Party over the last quarter century, accepted his party's presidential nomination Thursday night and promised to lead the GOP to victory in November.
McCain's speech to accept the GOP presidential nomination capped an improbable, come-from-behind victory for the Arizona senator who as recently as last summer was dismissed by many as a serious contender.
But there McCain was Thursday night, standing in front of a cheering crowd, at times trying to calm it down, at other times admonishing it for interrupting his speech with chants of "U.S.A."
Throughout the speech, especially at the end, McCain appeared ready to fight on the same playing field as his Democratic opponent, Barack Obama: as a change agent.
"I'm going to fight for my cause every day ... to make sure every American has every reason to thank God as I thank him that I am an American ... and with hard work, strong faith and a little courage, great things are always within our reach," McCain said over the rising applause, whistles and cheers that crescendoed with these next lines. "Fight with me. Fight with me. Fight for what's right. Fight for our children's future. Fight for justice and opportunity for all. Stand up to defend our country. Stand up for each other. Stand up. Stand up. And fight. Never give up. Never quit. We never hide from history. We make history."
With that, McCain whipped the GOP faithful into a frenzy after what at times had appeared to be a speech headed for a lackluster end.
Even with the strong finish, McCain's speech did not incite the crowd like Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's hard-edged attacks on Obama Wednesday night, which appeared to buoy a party concerned about its prospects in November.
Nor did it have the acerbic edge of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani or the down-home, regular-people charm of Mike Huckabee.
Perhaps most importantly, it did not possess the eloquence of Barack Obama who with his sing-song cadence can remind one of an orator steeped in the tradition of the black church.
What McCain has, however, is his intensity and his reputation for an independent streak that has put him at odds with his own party at times.
And the Arizona senator was not shy Thursday night about wrapping himself in the cloak of a reformer.
"Let me offer an advance warning to the old big-spending, do-nothing, me-first, country-second crowd: change is coming," he told the crowd at the Republican National Convention. For any doubters out there he recited a litany of those he had tangled with to burnish his bona fides -- lobbyists who stole from Indian tribes, tobacco companies, trial lawyers and union bosses.
It was with these statements that McCain made clear that he will try to accomplish something difficult over the next two months as he vies with Obama to capture the most votes.
And that is to run against the excesses of his party's own rule -- as well as that of the Democrats -- at the same time as he will attempt to excite the party faithful with talk of low taxes, school choice and less government.
He will also run as both a reluctant warrior -- "I hate war. It is terrible beyond imagination." -- at the same time that he stays committed to an unpopular war in Iraq. As for the partisan rancor that has gripped Washington in recent years, that will go the way of big lobbyist gifts, to be replaced with a new spirit of bipartisanship in which Democrats and Independents will be welcome in a McCain administration, the Republican nominee said.
"Again and again I have worked with members of both parties to fix problems that need to be fixed. That's how I will govern as president," McCain said, before slipping the knife in. "My friends, I have that record and the scars to prove it. Sen. Obama does not."
It was with that spirit of bipartisanship that McCain was quick to praise Obama for his achievement of being the first non-white to win the nomination of a major American political party.
"Let there be no doubt, my friends. We are going to win this election," McCain said to a cheering crowd.
After the speech, the usual suspects on PBS analyzed the speech.
"It's a throw-the-bums out speech," syndicated columnist Mark Shields said of McCain's trotting out problems plaguing the country.
New York Times columnist David Brooks said McCain showed an "intense desire to rise beyond the past eight years. You saw a man who is sickened by the past eight years."
The analysts disagreed as to the effectiveness of the speech, some saying it was very good, others saying it was merely good. They all agreed one one thing, however: Barack Obama is in for the fight of his life.
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