The Chronicle Covers The Conventions

John McCain delivers his acceptance speech for nominee of the Republican Party at a stage changed to highlight his strengths in a town hall setting. (Samuel Rubenfeld/The Chronicle)

By Samuel Rubenfeld

SENIOR NEWS EDITOR

ST. PAUL, Minn.–John McCain delivered a workmanlike speech when he accepted the Republican nomination for president Thursday night, emphasizing his service to the country and saying he wants to fight for the people.

The speech was deeply personal, and McCain did not hesitate to attack his own party.

“The party of Lincoln, [Teddy] Roosevelt and Reagan is going to get back to basics,” McCain said.

But the speech did not contain much of the raw meat Republicans had been gnawing on for the past two days. He barely attacked his opponent, the Democratic nominee Barack Obama, save for a call and response on basic policy divisions the parties have had for decades. He did not attack the press, as many did the day before.

“The constant partisan rancor that stops us from solving these problems isn’t a cause, it’s a symptom,” McCain said. “It’s what happens when people go to Washington to work for themselves and not you.”

Initially, the speech kept getting interrupted by protesters, and after the third time, McCain flashed a smirk and told his audience not “to be diverted by the ground noise and the static.”

McCain gave a breakdown on his policies concerning war, offshore drilling and fixing the economy, but the bulk of his speech was spent narrating his biography and describing his five years as a prisoner of war, saying it taught him to love his country.

“I wasn’t my own man anymore,” he said. “I was my country’s.”

The speech closed with a flourish: “Fight with me. Fight with me. Fight for what’s right for our country.”

ST. PAUL, Minn.–Since last night’s acceptance speech by Sarah Palin, the Barack Obama campaign has issued two fundraising e-mails, the latest about 20 minutes ago.

“With the nation watching, the Republicans mocked, dismissed, and actually laughed out loud at Americans who engage in community service and organizing,” the latest e-mail said.

The campaign asked for donations of $5 or more to prove “the McCain attack squad doesn’t understand is that people like you – who devote part of their busy lives to organizing and building their communities – have the power to change this country.”

Marc Ambinder reports via Twitter that the campaign says they’ve raised $10 million since last night alone.

–Samuel Rubenfeld

ST. PAUL, Minn.–The Republican National Committee released excerpts from John McCain’s acceptance speech:

On running mate Alaska Governor Sarah Palin:

“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. And let me offer an advance warning to the old, big spending, do nothing, me first, country second Washington crowd: change is coming.”

On solving problems 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 you.

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. I have that record and the scars to prove it. Senator Obama does not.”

On love of 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.”

–Samuel Rubenfeld

ST. PAUL, Minn.–Protesters are marching on the Republican National Convention again Thursday, in a demonstration called “No peace for the warmakers.”

Here’s a shot taken by Flickr user JasonB4 on his iPhone showing police gearing up for the protesters.

–Samuel Rubenfeld

MINNEAPOLIS–John Edwards, the 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee and twice a candidate for president, canceled his scheduled University appearance. Read full article here.

–Samuel Rubenfeld

MINNEAPOLIS–Roger Simon, the chief columnist for Politico, sarcastically apologizes for scrutinizing media coverage of Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee.

–Samuel Rubenfeld

MINNEAPOLIS–At the New York GOP delegation’s last breakfast, the former state senate majority leader compared the Democratic nominee to former N.Y. Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who resigned in disgrace last March after being identified as a client to a high-end prostitution ring.

Bruno, now a registered lobbyist, said Barack Obama’s message hides substance in favor of the image of a magnanimous leader, just like how he said Spitzer won his seat in the governor’s mansion in 2006.

–Samuel Rubenfeld

ST. PAUL, Minn.–John McCain was formally nominated for president by the Republican Party. Arizona passed on their vote initially, but their delegates cast the deciding vote after midnight EDT.

–Samuel Rubenfeld

Sarah Palin walks on stage to deliver her acceptance speech after becoming the first woman to be on a Republican presidential ticket. (Samuel Rubenfeld/The Chronicle)

By Samuel Rubenfeld

SENIOR NEWS EDITOR

ST. PAUL, Minn.–The first woman on a Republican party presidential ticket scored a hat trick in her acceptance speech for the vice presidential nomination.

Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, delivered a stirring speech Wednesday night attacking her Democratic opponents and playing up her small-town biography.

“I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities,” she said. “I might add that in small towns, we don’t quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren’t listening.”

Palin took the stage immediately following the convention’s keynote address delivered by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, foregoing the traditional tribute video that precedes the night’s major speaker.

She framed her biography as that of an average mom from a small town, and in so doing, attacked Democratic nominee Barack Obama’s wife, Michelle. “They [small town voters] love their country, in good times and bad, and they’re always proud of America,” referring to a line from a stump speech from Michelle early on in the primary campaign.

Palin also hyped her maverick credentials, displaying her will to rid her state of wasteful spending. “I got rid of a few things in the governor’s office that I didn’t believe our citizens should have to pay for,” she said. “That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay…I told the Congress ‘thanks, but no thanks,’ on that Bridge to Nowhere.”

Her attacks on Obama were both substantive and personal. “But listening to him [Obama] speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or even a reform – not even in the state senate,” Palin said.

The Democrats issued an immediate response: “The speech that Governor Palin gave was well delivered, but it was written by George Bush’s speechwriter and sounds exactly like the same divisive, partisan attacks we’ve heard from George Bush for the last eight years,” Bill Burton, an Obama campaign spokesman said in a statement.

ST PAUL, Minn.–Rudy Giuliani slashed into the Democratic ticket Wednesday night during his keynote address.

He rehashed some of the speech from the luncheon earlier in the day, but mixed in some much sharper barbs as well. Referring to Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s “present” votes during his time as a state senator, “for the president of the U.S., it’s not good enough to be present.”

“Barack Obama has never led anything, nothing nada,” he said, to cheers of “Zero!”

Giuliani invoked September 11, 2001, saying Obama is unprepared to face threats from terrorists. “They are in a state of denial about the threat that faces us now and in the future.”

After endorsing a mixture of nuclear power and offshore drilling to help ease energy pain, the crowd began chanting, “Drill, Baby Drill,” and Giuliani belly laughed before continuing his speech.

He narrated what he said was Obama’s muddled response to the conflict in South Ossetia between Russia and Georgia, saying he “had some advice for Obama, next time call McCain.”

And he poked some fun at himself, making light of Sarah Palin’s high approval rating in her home state of Alaska: “She’s got an 80% approval rating. You never get that in New York City.”

–Samuel Rubenfeld