St Paul, Minnesota - The following are excerpts of John McCain's speech accepting the Republican Party's nomination for president:"Tonight, I have a privilege given few Americans - the privilege of accepting our party's nomination for president of the United States. I accept it with gratitude, humility and confidence."
"I'm grateful to the president of the United States for leading us in these dark days following the worst attack on American soil in our history and keeping us safe from another attack many thought was inevitable."
"Let me just offer an advance warning to the old, big-spending, do-nothing, me-first, country-second crowd: Change is coming."
"When we tell you we are going to change Washington and stop leaving our country's problems for some unluckier generation to fix, you can count on it. We have got a record of doing just that and the strength, experience, judgement and backbone to keep our word to you."
"I have been called a maverick. ... 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 myself. I work for you."
"I fought for the right strategy and more troops in Iraq when it wasn't the popular thing to do. And when the pundits said my campaign was finished, I said I'd rather lose an election than see my country lose a war.
"Thanks to the leadership of a brilliant general, David Petreaus, and the brave men and women he has the honour to command, 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."
"I [will] fight to restore the pride and principles of our party. We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us. We lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the temptations of corruption. ... We lost their trust when we valued our power over our principles.
"We are going to change that. We are going to recover the people's trust by standing up again to the values Americans admire. The party of [former presidents Abraham] Lincoln, [Theodore] Roosevelt and [Ronald] Reagan is going to get back to basics."
"Senator [Barack] Obama thinks we can achieve energy independence without more drilling and without more nuclear power, but Americans know better than that.
"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."
"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 a serious blow to al-Qaeda in recent years, but they are 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 neighbour to gain more control over the world's oil supply, intimidate other neighbors and further their ambitions of reassembling the Russian empire. And the brave people of Georgia need our solidarity and our prayers.
"As president, I will work to establish good relations with Russia so that we need not fear a return of 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. 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. I know how to secure the peace."
"In Vietnam, where I formed the closest friendships of my life, some of those friends never came home with me. I hate war. It is 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."
"We have to catch up to history, and we have to change the way we do business in Washington. ... 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.
"Again and again, I have worked with members of both parties to fix problems that need to be fixed. ... I will reach out my hand to anyone to help me get this country moving again. My friends, I have that record, and the scars to prove it. Senator Obama does not."
"On an October morning in the Gulf of Tonkin, I prepared for my 23rd mission over North Vietnam. ... I thought I was tougher than anyone. ... I didn't think there was a cause 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. I was dumped in a dark cell and left to die. I didn't feel so tough anymore."
"I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's. ... I was never the same again. I wasn't my own man anymore. I was my country's.
"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. My country saved me, ... and I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help me God."
"Fight with me. Fight for what's right for our country. Fight for the ideals and character of a free people. ... Fight for justice and opportunity for all. Stand up to defend our country from its enemies.
"Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. Nothing is inevitable here. We are Americans, and we never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history."
