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Campbell Brown
John McCain Accepts Republican Presidential Nomination
Aired September 04, 2008 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Does John McCain tonight try to make the fact that he is not a -- a practiced orator, does he try to turn that to his advantage?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.
COOPER: I mean, I remember George H.W. Bush. I think it was a line Peggy Noonan wrote about, you know, I hear the -- I don't want to paraphrase it, because I will mangle it -- but, you know, I hear the voices others don't.
BORGER: Yes.
ALEX CASTELLANOS, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: This is a -- this is a battle between two kind of blue jeans here. This is Wrangler jeans, real jeans, vs. designer jeans. The real jeans can be a little scruffy and worn, but, you know, that means they work. They're real. They don't have to be fancy and polished.
COOPER: The authenticity, which we saw from Sarah Palin yesterday.
CASTELLANOS: Authenticity vs. -- vs. polish.
BORGER: And McCain talks about Obama's eloquent words.
And, don't forget, John McCain also challenged Barack Obama to do a series of town hall meetings with him across the country this summer, which Obama did not do.
And this is another way for John McCain to say, I'm more comfortable right here, down with the people than on a stage.
COOPER: Democratic strategist Donna Brazile and CNN contributor standing by.
Donna, I mean, as -- as you have watched these last couple of nights, it has been very short on policy prescriptions, on details. It has been very long and in-depth on biography.
What -- what do you think is the reason for that?
DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, you know, there's an old scripture that says that, without a vision, a people will parish.
We know a lot of about John McCain's bio. We know about his -- his past. But what we don't know is what he plans to do for the future.
But, Anderson, I want to mention something else. A couple of minutes ago, Lindsey Graham leveled a real major false attack against Senator Obama. Once again, he insinuated that Senator Obama will not stand behind the troops. And that's not true.
He also said that Senator Obama will not fight as hard as Senator McCain to get us out of Iraq and provide for our victory. Again, these false charges, deception, every time that they level these attacks against Senator Obama and Democrats, or questioning our patriotism, our commitment to the country, people rightly get upset out there, because they know, like Republicans, we all care about our country. We cafe to put our country first.
And these attacks, these false, scurrilous attacks on one's patriotism must stop. And I hope tonight, when John McCain speaks to the country, he will put an end to this type of attack and get back on -- on the high, so that we can talk about the issues that he cares about as well.
COOPER: Tara Wall, is it to the Republicans' advantage, though, to have this focused on issues, or is it best to make it personal, about these two men?
Sorry, Tara is not there.
Let's go to David Gergen.
David, is it -- David Gergen, is it...
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.
COOPER: Is it to the Republicans' advantage to make this just a battle between two men?
GERGEN: It is to their advantage, Anderson, but there's such a thing as overdoing it, and underperforming -- or at least understating on the -- on the policy side.
And I think one of the things we have seen tonight, with the exception of the Lindsey Graham speech, is a change of tone. It's not as combative, it's not as divisive as -- as last night.
Cindy McCain, you know, we have almost got now -- when we have these conventions, each -- each side has to give a speech about -- from the first -- the potential first lady. It's sort of like we have an election of our first ladies, too.
But -- but the other part of it is, Anderson, while they have changed the tone, I think they are in danger of saying so little about where they're going on the economy, where they're going on the national security side, this -- that message, even -- you can't just leave it to one speech, and that is the -- the -- the acceptance address.
I think it's something you need to drill in over the course of a couple of nights. And I do not think they have done a good job with that. They have left themselves vulnerable on that. And, so, it's left -- it has put a lot of weight on -- on John McCain's speech to be quite substantive and very specific about what various policies are going...
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, the -- the video tribute to John McCain is about to begin.
That will be followed by his acceptance speech. We have viewing parties across the country, including at Times Square, out in Orange County, California. We are going to be watching them as they watch John McCain.
This is what we did last week in Denver, as Democrats were watching what was going on at their convention.
Now let's take a look at the video.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
NARRATOR: A soldier, naval aviator, POW, a father, son, a husband.
They once called him congressman and now call him senator. Some call him hotheaded. Some called him names that can't be repeated. But of all the names so many have called John McCain in his years of service to America, truly at his core, John McCain is a:
ROBERTA MCCAIN, MOTHER OF JOHN MCCAIN: Momma's boy.
NARRATOR: A four-star warrior for a grandfather who stood on the USS Missouri and watched the Japanese surrender, went home from war the next day, and died, a four-star father, commander of the Pacific at the time his son was a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
His father would take a single guard and drive to the border between North and South Vietnam. He would stand for hours, gazing north. It was as close as he could get to his son, who was imprisoned in downtown Hanoi, the city he had just ordered to be carpet bombed. It was a love for America, above all else, for the McCains.
R. MCCAIN: Our military family is like all military families. We -- it's kind of a case of make do. We're all in it together. It's a -- a Navy family, in my view, is -- is wonderful.
NARRATOR: John McCain's remarkable role in America's history began before Vietnam. He was on the first ship to enter Cuban waters during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and again on the USS Forrestal, where, scrapped into the cockpit awaiting his turn for takeoff, a missile accidentally fired from a nearby F-4 Phantom and hit a fuel tank. The fire burned for 13 hours. One hundred and thirty-four men lost their lives.
John McCain's life was somehow spared. Perhaps he had more to do. A year later came Hanoi. Critically injured and with wounds never properly addressed, for the next five-and-a-half years, John was tortured and dragged from one filthy prison to another. Violently ill, often in solitary confinement, he survived by the faith he learned from his father and grandfather, the faith that there is more to life than self.
ORSON SWINDLE, FELLOW PRISONER OF WAR: In his book "Faith of My Fathers," John wrote: "In prison, I fell in love with my country. I had loved her before, but, like most young people, my affection was little more than a simple appreciation for the comforts and privileges most Americans enjoyed and took for granted. It wasn't until I had lost America for a time that I realized how much I loved her."
NARRATOR: When the North Vietnamese realized who his father was, they offered John early release as a P.R. ploy. He said no. He would honor first in, first out, like everyone else. And, so, he chose to spend four more years in hell.
Five-and-a-half years later, the war was over, and McCain was set free. The constant torture and isolation could have produced a bitter, broken man. Instead, he came back to America with a smile, with joy and optimism. He chose to spend his life serving the country he loved, first in the United States House of Representatives.
R. MCCAIN: Where else in the history of the United States of America have you had a person, over time, with experience that he has?
NARRATOR: It says much about the man that Senator McCain led the efforts to normalize relations with Vietnam. Five-and-a-half years in their hell, and he chose to go back, because it was healing for America.
That's country first.
He staked out a name for himself as a common sense conservative, pro-life, smaller government, a faith in the American people's ability to chart their own course, committed to protect the American people, a ferocious opponent of pork barrel spending, and would do most anything to keep taxes low, keep our money in our pockets.
John McCain abhors waste, outspoken, brash, but honest, honorable, and razor-sharp effective. He's not it in for the glory, not to please any political party. John McCain has seen too much to think petty. His is a larger cause, a faithful, unyielding love for America, country first.
He was one of but a handful in Washington who said long ago that we would never reach a true success in Iraq unless we provided the manpower and material to get the job done right.
And, today, our nation stands thankful for that warning, as our troops are now able to provide the kind of security in Iraq that will lead to peace in that country, a more stable Middle East, and greater security for our families here at home.
No one cherishes the American dream more. Father of seven, his children represent an all-American panorama, stretching from an airline pilot, to a son in the Navy, a son in the Marines, to his youngest daughter, a teenager now, who became a McCain after his wife, Cindy, discovered her as a baby in one of Mother Teresa's orphanages in Bangladesh.
What a life. What a faith. What a family. What good fortune that America will choose this leader at precisely this time.
The stars are aligned. Change will come. The change must be safety, prosperity, optimism, and peace. The change will come from strength, from the man who found his strength in a tiny, dank cell, thousands of miles from home.
R. MCCAIN: He will renew America. He loves our country. Country will always be first with my son, John McCain.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you have lived in a box, you fear no man. You know no fear. You have known hate. You have known elation. You have longed. You have dreamed. You have reached. And you have forgiven.
When you have lived in a box, the world becomes clear, no time for petty, no time for wrong, just time for right, each moment sharply aware, each step part of a journey. When you have lived in a box, your life is about keeping others from having to endure that box. You shout, you push, you lead.
You left long ago the shallow of self and put your people first, your country first.
John McCain.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
AUDIENCE: John McCain! John McCain! John McCain! John McCain! John McCain! John McCain! John McCain! John McCain! John McCain!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
AUDIENCE: John McCain! John McCain! John McCain!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: Thank you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: Thank you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: Thank you. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: Thank you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: Thank you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: Thank you all very much.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: Thank you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: Thank you all very much.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: Thank you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: Thank you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: Thank you.
AUDIENCE: USA! USA!
J. MCCAIN: Thank you.
AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA!
J. MCCAIN: Thank you. Thank you.
AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA!
J. MCCAIN: Thank you.
AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA!
J. MCCAIN: Thank you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: Thank you. Thank you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: Thank you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: Thank you. Thank you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: Thank you.
AUDIENCE: John McCain! John McCain!
J. MCCAIN: Thank you.
AUDIENCE: John McCain! John McCain! John McCain!
J. MCCAIN: Thank you all very much. Thank you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: Tonight, I have a privilege given few Americans: the privilege of accepting our party's nomination for president of the United States.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: Thank you. Thanks. And I accept it with...
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: Thank you. I -- and I accept it with gratitude, humility, and confidence.
In my life, no success has come without a good fight, and this nomination wasn't any different. That's a tribute to the candidates who opposed me and their supporters. They're leaders of great ability who love our country and wish to lead it to better days. Their support is an honor that I won't forget.
I'm grateful to the president of the United States for leading us in these dark days following the worst attack in American history.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: The worst attack on American soil in our history and keeping us safe from another attack that many -- many thought was inevitable.
MCCAIN: And to the first lady...
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: And to the first lady, Laura Bush, a model of grace and kindness in public and in private.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: And I'm grateful to the 41st president and his bride of 63 years for their outstanding example... (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: ... for their outstanding example of honorable service to our country.
As always, I'm indebted to my wife, Cindy, and my seven children. You know, the pleasures of family life can seem like a brief holiday from the crowded calendar of our nation's business. But I have treasured them all the more and can't imagine a life without the happiness that you've given me.
You know, Cindy said a lot of nice things about me tonight. But, in truth, she's more my inspiration than I am hers.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: Her concern for those less blessed than we are -- victims of land mines, children born in poverty, with birth defects -- shows the measure of her humanity. And I know that she will make a great first lady.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: My friends, when I was growing up, my father was often at sea, and the job of raising my brother, sister and me would fall to my mother alone. Roberta McCain gave us her love of life, her deep interest in the world, her strength, and her belief that we're all meant to use our opportunities to make ourselves useful to our country.
I wouldn't be here tonight but for the strength of her character.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: MCCAIN: And she doesn't want me to say this, but she's 96 years young.
My heartfelt thanks to all of you who helped me win this nomination and stood by me when the odds were long. I won't let you down.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: I won't let you down. I won't let you down.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: To Americans who have yet to decide who to vote for, thank you for your consideration and the opportunity to win your trust. I intend to earn it.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: And, finally, a word to Senator Obama and his supporters. We'll go at it -- we'll go at it over the next two months -- you know that's the nature of this business -- and there are big differences between us. But you have my respect and my admiration.
Despite our differences, much more unites us than divides us. We are fellow Americans, and that's an association that means more to me than any other.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: We're dedicated to the proposition that all people are created equal and endowed by our creator with inalienable rights. No country -- no country ever had a greater cause than that. And I wouldn't be an American worthy of the name if I didn't honor Senator Obama and his supporters for their achievement.
But let there be no doubt, my friends: We're going to win this election.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: MCCAIN: And after we've won, we're going to reach out our hand to any willing patriot, make this government start working for you again, and get this country back on the road to prosperity and peace.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: I know these are tough times for many of you. You're worried about...
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: Please, please, please. My friends, my dear friends, please. Please don't be diverted by the ground noise and the static.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: You know, I'm going to talk about it some more. But Americans want us to stop yelling at each other, OK?
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: These are tough times for many of you. You're worried about keeping your job or finding a new one, and you're struggling to put food on the table and stay in your home.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: All you've ever asked of your government is to stand on your side and not in your way. And that's what I intend to do: stand on your side and fight for your future.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: MCCAIN: And I have found just the right partner to help me shake up Washington, Governor Sarah...
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) J. MCCAIN: Governor Sarah Palin of the great state of Alaska.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: And I want to thank everyone here and all over America for the tremendous, wonderful, warm reception you gave her last night. Thank you so much. She deserves it. What a great beginning.
You know, she has an executive experience and a real record of accomplishment. She's tackled tough problems, like energy independence and corruption. She's balanced a budget, cut taxes, and she's taken on the special interests.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: She's reached across the aisle and asked Republicans, Democrats, and independents to serve in her administration. She's the wonderful mother of five children.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: She's -- she's helped run a small business. She's worked with her hands and knows -- and knows what it's like to worry about mortgage payments, and health care, and the cost of gasoline and groceries.
She knows where she comes from, and she knows who she works for. She stands up for what's right, and she doesn't let anyone tell her to sit down.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: I'm very proud to have introduced our next vice president to the country, but I can't wait until I introduce her to Washington.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: And let me just offer an advance warning to the old, big- spending, do-nothing, me-first, country-second crowd: Change is coming.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: I'm not -- I'm not in the habit of breaking my promises to my country, and neither is Governor Palin. And when we tell you we're going to change Washington and stop leaving our country's problems for some unluckier generation to fix, you can count on it.
And we've...
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: We've got a record of doing just that, and the strength, experience, judgment, and backbone to keep our word to you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: You well know I have been called a maverick, someone who...
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: ... someone who marches to the beat of his own drum. Sometimes it's meant as a compliment; 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.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: I have fought corruption, and it didn't matter if the culprits were Democrats or Republicans. They violated their public trust, and they had to be held accountable.
I have fought the big spenders...
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. MCCAIN: I have fought the big spenders in both parties, who waste your money on things you neither need nor want, and the first big-spending pork-barrel earmark bill that comes across my desk, I will veto it. I will make them famous, and you will know their names. You will know their names.
(APPLAUSE)
We're not going to allow that while you struggle to buy groceries, fill your gas tank, and make your mortgage payment. I've fought to get million-dollar checks out of our elections. I've fought lobbyists who stole from Indian tribes. I've fought crooked deals in the Pentagon. I've fought tobacco companies and trial lawyers, drug companies and union bosses.
(APPLAUSE)
I've fought for the right strategy and more troops in Iraq when it wasn't the popular thing to do.
(APPLAUSE)
And when the pundits said -- when the pundits said my campaign was finished, I said I'd rather lose an election than see my country lose a war.
(APPLAUSE)
And thanks -- thanks to the leadership of a brilliant general, David Petraeus, and the brave men and women he has the honor to command...
(APPLAUSE)
... that -- that strategy succeeded, and it rescued us from a defeat that would have demoralized our military, risked a wider war, and threatened the security of all Americans.
(APPLAUSE)
I don't mind a good fight. For reasons known only to God, I've had quite a few tough ones in my life. But I learned an important lesson along the way: In the end, it matters less that you can fight. What you fight for is the real test.
(APPLAUSE)
I fight for Americans. I fight for you. I fight for Bill and Sue Nebe from Farmington Hills, Michigan, who lost...
(APPLAUSE)
... lost their real estate investments in the bad housing market. Bill got a temporary job after he was out of work for seven months. Sue works three jobs to help pay the bills.
I fight for Jake and Toni Wimmer of Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Jake...
(APPLAUSE)
Jake works on a loading dock, coaches Little League, and raises money for the mentally and physically disabled. Toni is a schoolteacher, working toward her master's degree. They have two sons. The youngest, Luke, has been diagnosed with autism. Their lives should matter to the people they elect to office. And they matter to me. And they matter to you.
I fight for the family of Matthew Stanley of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.
(APPLAUSE)
Matthew died serving our country in Iraq. I wear his bracelet and think of him every day. I intend to honor their sacrifice by making sure the country their son loved so well and never returned to remains safe from its enemies.
(APPLAUSE)
I fight to restore the pride and principles of our party. We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us.
MCCAIN: We lost -- we lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the temptations of corruption. We lost their trust when rather than reform government, both parties made it bigger.
We lost their trust when instead of freeing ourselves from a dangerous dependence on foreign oil, both parties -- and Senator Obama -- passed another corporate welfare bill for oil companies. We lost their trust when we valued our power over our principles.
We're going to change that.
(APPLAUSE)
We're going to recover the people's trust by standing up again to the values Americans admire. The party of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Reagan is going to get back to basics.
(APPLAUSE)
In this country, we believe everyone has something to contribute and deserves the opportunity to reach their God-given potential, from the boy whose descendants arrived on the Mayflower to the Latina daughter of migrant workers. We're all God's children, and we're all Americans.
(APPLAUSE)
We believe -- we believe in low taxes, spending discipline, and open markets. We believe in rewarding hard work and risk-takers and letting people keep the fruits of their labor.
We believe...
(APPLAUSE)
We believe -- we believe in a strong defense, work, faith, service, a culture of life...
(APPLAUSE)
... personal responsibility, the rule of law, and judges who dispense justice impartially and don't legislate from the bench.
(APPLAUSE) We believe in the values of families, neighborhoods, and communities. We believe in a government that unleashes the creativity and initiative of Americans, government that doesn't make your choices for you, but works to make sure you have more choices to make for yourself.
(APPLAUSE)
I will keep taxes low and cut them where I can. My opponent will raise them. I will open...
(AUDIENCE BOOS)
I will open new markets to our goods and services. My opponent will close them.
(AUDIENCE BOOS)
I will cut government spending. He will increase it. (AUDIENCE BOOS)
My tax cuts will create jobs; his tax increases will eliminate them.
(AUDIENCE BOOS)
My health care plan will make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good health care insurance. His plan will force small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a government-run health care system where a bureaucrat...
(AUDIENCE BOOS)
... where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor.
(AUDIENCE BOOS)
We all know that keeping taxes low helps small businesses grow and create new jobs. Cutting the second-highest business tax rate in the world will help American companies compete and keep jobs from going overseas.
(APPLAUSE)
Doubling the child tax exemption from $3,500 to $7,000 will improve the lives of millions of American families.
(APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: Reducing government spending and getting rid of failed programs will let you keep more of your own money to save, spend, and invest as you see fit.
(APPLAUSE)
Opening new markets and preparing workers to compete in the world economy is essential to our future prosperity.
I know some of you have been left behind in the changing economy, and it often sees that your government hasn't even noticed. Government assistance for the unemployed workers was designed for the economy of the 1950s. That's going to change on my watch.
(APPLAUSE)
Now, my opponent promises to bring back old jobs by wishing away the global economy. We're going to help workers who've lost a job that won't come back find a new one that won't go away.
(APPLAUSE)
We will prepare them for the jobs of day -- of today. We will use our community colleges to help train people for new opportunities in their communities.
(APPLAUSE)
For workers in industries -- for workers in industries that have been hard-hit, we'll help make up part of the difference in wages between their old job and a temporary, lower paid one, while they receive re-training that will help them find secure new employment at a decent wage.
(APPLAUSE)
Education -- education is the civil rights issue of this century.
(APPLAUSE)
Equal access to public education has been gained, but what is the value of access to a failing school? We need...
(APPLAUSE) We need to shake up failed school bureaucracies with competition, empower parents with choice.
(APPLAUSE)
Let's remove barriers to qualified instructors, attract and reward good teachers, and help bad teachers find another line of work.
(APPLAUSE)
When a public school fails to meet its obligations to students, parent -- when it fails to meet its obligations to students, parents deserve a choice in the education of their children. And I intend to give it to them.
(APPLAUSE)
Some may choose a better public school. Some may choose a private one. Many will choose a charter school. But they will have the choice, and their children will have that opportunity.
(APPLAUSE)
Senator Obama wants our schools to answer to unions and entrenched bureaucrats. I want schools to answer to parents and students.
(APPLAUSE)
And when I'm president, they will.
(APPLAUSE)
My fellow Americans, when I'm president, we're going to embark on the most ambitious national project in decades.
MCCAIN: We're going to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't like us very much, and some of that money...
(APPLAUSE) We'll attack -- we'll attack the problem on every front. We'll produce more energy at home. We will drill new wells off-shore, and we'll drill them now. We'll drill them now.
(APPLAUSE)
We'll -- we'll -- my friends, we'll build more nuclear power plants. We'll develop clean-coal technology. We'll increase the use of wind, tide, solar, and natural gas. We'll encourage the development and use of flex-fuel, hybrid and electric automobiles.
(APPLAUSE)
Senator Obama thinks we can achieve energy independence without more drilling and without more nuclear power. But Americans know better than that.
(APPLAUSE)
We must use all resources and develop all technologies necessary to rescue our economy from the damage caused by rising oil prices and restore the health of our planet.
My friends...
(APPLAUSE)
... it's an ambitious plan, but Americans are ambitious by nature, and we've faced greater challenges. It's time for us to show the world again how Americans lead.
(APPLAUSE)
This great national cause will create millions of new jobs, many in industries that will be the engine of our future prosperity, jobs that will be there when your children enter the workforce.
Today -- today, the prospect of a better world remains within our reach. But we must see the threats to peace and liberty in our time clearly and face them as Americans before us did: with confidence, wisdom, and resolve. We have dealt...
(APPLAUSE)
We have dealt a serious blow to Al Qaida in recent years, but they're not defeated, and they'll strike us again, if they can. Iran remains the chief state sponsor of terrorism and is on the path to acquiring nuclear weapons.
Russia's leaders, rich with oil wealth and corrupt with power, have rejected democratic ideals and the obligations of a responsible power. They invaded a small, democratic neighbor to gain more control over the world's oil supply, intimidate other neighbors, and further their ambitions of re-assembling the Russian empire.
And the brave people of Georgia need our solidarity and our prayers.
(APPLAUSE)
As president, I'll work to establish good relations with Russia so that we need not fear a return to the Cold War. But we can't turn a blind eye to aggression and international lawlessness that threatens the peace and stability of the world and the security of the American people.
We face many dangerous threats in this dangerous world, but I'm not afraid of them. I'm prepared for them.
(APPLAUSE)
I know how the military works, what it can do, what it can do better, and what it shouldn't do. I know how the world works. I know the good and the evil in it.
I know how to work with leaders who share our dreams of a freer, safer and more prosperous world, and how to stand up to those who don't.
(APPLAUSE)
I know how to secure the peace.
MCCAIN: My friends, when I was 5 years old, a car pulled up in front of our house. A Navy officer rolled down the window and shouted at my father that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. I rarely saw my father again for four years.
My grandfather came home from that same war exhausted from the burdens he had borne and died the next day.
In Vietnam, where I formed the closest friendships of my life, some of those friends never came home with me.
I hate war. It's terrible beyond imagination.
I'm running for president to keep the country I love safe and prevent other families from risking their loved ones in war as my family has. I will draw on all my experience with the world and its leaders, and all the tools at our disposal -- diplomatic, economic, military, and the power of our ideals -- to build the foundations for a stable and enduring peace.
(APPLAUSE)
In America, we change things that need to be changed. Each generation makes its contribution to our greatness. The work that is ours to do is plainly before us; we don't need to search for it.
We need to change the way government does almost everything: from the way we protect our security to the way we compete in the world economy; from the way we respond to disasters to the way we fuel our transportation network; from the way we train our workers to the way we educate our children.
All these functions of government were designed before the rise of the global economy, the information technology revolution, and the end of the Cold War. We have to catch up to history, and we have to change the way we do business in Washington.
(APPLAUSE)
The -- the constant partisan rancor that stops us from solving these problems isn't a cause. It's a symptom. It's what happens when people go to Washington to work for themselves and not for you.
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Again and again -- again and again, I've worked with members of both parties to fix problems that need to be fixed. That's how I will govern as president. I will reach out my hand to anyone to help me get this country moving again.
My friends...
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... I have that record and the scars to prove it. Senator Obama does not.
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Instead -- instead of rejecting good ideas because we didn't think of them first, let's use the best ideas from both sides. Instead of fighting over who gets the credit, let's try sharing it.
This amazing country...
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This amazing country can do anything we put our minds to. I'll ask Democrats and Independents to serve with me. And my administration will set a new standard for transparency and accountability.
We're...
(APPLAUSE)
We're going to finally start getting things done for the people who are counting on us, and I won't care who gets the credit.
My friends, I've been an imperfect servant of my country for many years. But I've been her servant first, last, and always. And I've never...
(APPLAUSE)
I've never lived a day, in good times or bad, that I didn't thank God for the privilege. (APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: Long ago, something unusual happened to me that taught me the most valuable lesson of my life. I was blessed by misfortune. I mean that sincerely. I was blessed because I served in the company of heroes and I witnessed a thousand acts of courage, and compassion, and love.
On an October morning, in the Gulf of Tonkin, I prepared for my 23rd mission over North Vietnam. I hadn't any worry I wouldn't come back safe and sound. I thought I was tougher than anyone. I was pretty independent then, too.
(LAUGHTER)
I liked to bend a few rules and pick a few fights for the fun of it. But I did it for my own pleasure, my own pride. I didn't think there was a cause that was more important than me.
Then I found myself falling toward the middle of a small lake in the city of Hanoi, with two broken arms, a broken leg, and an angry crowd waiting to greet me.
(LAUGHTER)
I was dumped in a dark cell and left to die. I didn't feel so tough anymore.
When they discovered my father was an admiral, they took me to a hospital. They couldn't set my bones properly, so they just slapped a cast on me. And when I didn't get better and was down to about a hundred pounds, they put me in a cell with two other Americans.
I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even feed myself. They did it for me. I was beginning to learn the limits of my selfish independence. Those men saved my life.
(APPLAUSE)
I was in solitary confinement when my captors offered to release me. I knew why. If I went home, they would use it as propaganda to demoralize my fellow prisoners.
Our code said we could only go home in the order of our capture, and there were men who had been shot down long before me. I thought about it, though. I wasn't in great shape, and I missed everything about America, but I turned it down.
A lot of prisoners had it much worse...
(APPLAUSE)
A lot of -- a lot of prisoners had it a lot worse than I did. I'd been mistreated before, but not as badly as many others. I always liked to strut a little after I'd been roughed up to show the other guys I was tough enough to take it. But after I turned down their offer, they worked me over harder than they ever had before, for a long time, and they broke me.
When they brought me back to my cell, I was hurt and ashamed, and I didn't know how I could face my fellow prisoners. The good man in the cell next door to me, my friend, Bob Craner, saved me.
Through taps on a wall, he told me I had fought as hard as I could. No man can always stand alone. And then he told me to get back up and fight again for my country and for the men I had the honor to serve with, because every day they fought for me.
(APPLAUSE)
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.
MCCAIN: 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.
(APPLAUSE)
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.
(APPLAUSE)
My country saved me. My country saved me, and I cannot forget it. And I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help me God.
(APPLAUSE)
My friends, if you find faults with our country, make it a better one. If you're disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them. Enlist...
(APPLAUSE)
Enlist in our Armed Forces. Become a teacher. Enter the ministry. Run for public office. Feed a hungry child. Teach an -- an illiterate adult to read. Comfort the afflicted. Defend the rights of the oppressed.
Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier, because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself.
(APPLAUSE)
I'm going to fight for my cause every day as your president. I'm going to fight to make sure every American has every reason to thank God, as I thank him, that I'm an American, a proud citizen of the greatest country on Earth. And with hard work -- with hard word, strong faith, and a little courage, great things are always within our reach.
Fight with me. Fight with me.
(APPLAUSE)
Fight for what's right for our country. Fight for the ideals and character of a free people.
(APPLAUSE)
Fight for our children's future. Fight for justice and opportunity for all.
(APPLAUSE)
Stand up to defend our country from its enemies. Stand up for each other, for beautiful, blessed, bountiful America.
(APPLAUSE)
Stand up, stand up, stand up, and fight.
(APPLAUSE)
Nothing is inevitable here. We're Americans, and we never give up.
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We never quit.
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We never hide from history. We make history.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America.
