John McCain has accepted the Republican Party’s candidacy for the White House in a speech to cheering supporters at the party’s national convention.
He vowed to bring change to government, restore the people’s trust in the party and to fight for a better nation.
Praising his running mate Sarah Palin, he said she was the right person to help him bring change to Washington.
The Arizona senator said he respected Democratic rival Barack Obama and would seek a bipartisan approach to politics.
Presenting himself once again as a maverick, he pledged to fight corruption, whether Democratic or Republican, and make sure that he worked for the good of the American people.
“Let me offer an advance warning to the old, big spending, do nothing, me first, country second Washington crowd: change is coming,” Mr McCain told the crowds in St Paul, Minnesota.
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 Again and again, I’ve worked with members of both parties to fix problems that need to be fixed  John McCain
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In a criticism of his own party, he said he would “fight to restore the pride and principles” of the party, damaged after some Republicans gave in to “the temptations of corruption”.
“We’re going to recover the people’s trust by standing up again for the values Americans admire,” he said. “The party of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Reagan is going to get back to basics.”
Mr McCain then turned to attacking the Democrats over taxes and spending, saying they would seek to raise taxes whereas he would keep them low and cut them where possible.
Going into some policy specifics, he pledged create new jobs, improve education and to reduce a “dangerous dependence on foreign oil” by producing more energy at home, including by drilling new offshore oil wells.
Mr McCain promised to take a bipartisan approach to resolving the nation’s problems, saying: “Again and again, I’ve worked with members of both parties to fix problems that need to be fixed.
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McCAIN’S MOST-USED WORDS
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“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. Barack Obama does not.”
After speaking of the five years he spent as a prisoner of war in Vietnam and how that experience had inspired his love of his country, he called on his fellow Americans to fight with him to make it a better one.
“Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. Nothing is inevitable here. We’re Americans and we never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history.”
The almost hour-long speech, which ended in the traditional shower of confetti and red, white and blue balloons, brought to a close the party’s four-day event.
‘Tested and true’
Mr McCain’s speech was measured and entirely lacking in the sarcasm and vitriol which have been levelled at Mr Obama over the past couple of nights.
He said he hated war and would use all America’s tools – diplomatic, military and economic – to build what he called a stable and enduring peace, as well as shaking up Washington and including Democrats and independents in a McCain administration.
Mrs McCain praised her husband as a great father and devoted American
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It was all a rather different tone to the Republican politics of the past eight years, and to many of the other speakers at this Republican convention, our correspondent says.
There was very little of President George W Bush in this speech, our correspondent adds, as Mr McCain tries to show that he is his own man and can signify a break with the Bush years.
Mr McCain’s wife, Cindy, in her speech praised her husband’s family values, strength of character, war service and leadership.
“If Americans want straight talk and the plain truth, they should take a good close look at John McCain… a man tested and true, who’s never wavered in his devotion to our country,” she said, after arriving on stage flanked by their seven children.
Her speech followed the convention’s formal nomination of Mrs Palin – the Republican Party’s first female vice-presidential candidate.
Mrs Palin becomes only the second woman, the first being Democrat Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, to run for the US vice-presidency.
‘Integrity and courage’
Speaking ahead of Mr McCain’s address, senior Republicans praised his courage and leadership.
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 I have to say, from my vantage point next to the DC delegation, my overall impression was that the audience in the hall were disappointed BBC North America editor Justin Webb
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Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, at one point hotly tipped to be Mr McCain’s running mate choice, described the Arizona senator’s life as “a testimony to service, duty, courage and common sense”.
“In this time, we don’t need a president who can just read a poll or momentarily thrill a crowd. We don’t need rhetoric or empty promises,” he said.
“We need a president who has the integrity and courage to make the tough choices so America will be stronger and safer.”
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham hailed Mr McCain’s determination to back the Bush administration’s “surge” strategy in Iraq despite the political risks.
McCain is an experienced person and his speech impressed me
He introduced a video presenting Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as a “maverick” moose-hunter from Alaska who was joining “the original maverick” Mr McCain to bring change to Washington politics.
In a well-received speech on Wednesday, Mrs Palin praised Mr McCain and attacked Mr Obama as having talked of change, but done nothing of substance.
President George W Bush has also strongly endorsed John McCain as the best man to succeed him in the White House.
News & Current Affairs 
Palin takes battle to Democrats
John McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin, has made a stinging attack on Democratic presidential runner Barack Obama at the US Republican convention.
She gave her first major campaign speech to an enthusiastic crowd at the convention in St Paul, Minnesota.
Defending her small-town roots, she attacked Mr Obama as having talked of change, but done nothing of substance.
Mr McCain made a surprise appearance on stage, with her family, saying: “Don’t you think we made the right choice?”
The Arizona senator has been formally nominated as the party’s presidential candidate in a roll call vote by state delegations. He is expected to accept the nomination on Thursday.
In a speech designed to rally the party base, she spoke of her family, including her elder son, who is about to be deployed to Iraq in the US Army, and her younger son, who has Down’s Syndrome.
The mother-of-five highlighted her background as a small-town “average hockey mom” and stressed that she was not part of the “Washington elite”.
In a salvo directed at media commentators who have questioned her qualifications, she said she was “not going to Washington to seek their good opinion” but to serve the people.
Mrs Palin praised the “determination, resolve and sheer guts” of Mr McCain and said she was honoured to help him.
Mrs Palin also attacked Mr Obama’s “change agenda” and suggested he was more interested in idealism and “high-flown speech-making” than acting for “real Americans”.
“In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers,” she said.
“And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.”
She also targeted Mr Obama’s experience as a community organiser and remarks he made earlier this year when he spoke of “bitter” working-class people “clinging to guns or religion”.
“I guess that 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.”
Mrs Palin – who supports drilling for oil in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge – said that while drilling “will not solve all of America’s energy problems”, that is “no excuse to do nothing at all”.
Democrats under fire
Former Governors Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee opened the night by hailing Mr McCain and attacking the Democrats.
Mr Romney, a one-time rival of Mr McCain for the Republican nomination, used his speech to hammer the Democrats over their “liberal” agenda.
“We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington – throw out the big government liberals and elect John McCain,” the former Massachusetts governor said.
He also lauded Mr McCain’s national security credentials, saying he was the presidential contender who would defeat “evil” radical Islam.
Mr Huckabee, also a former rival of Mr McCain, joked that he had hoped to be giving the speech on Thursday night – when Mr McCain will accept the party’s nomination to run for president in November’s election.
But, he said, he was delighted to be speaking for his second choice, Mr McCain – “a man with the character and stubborn kind of integrity that we need in a president”.
He defended Mrs Palin against criticism from the media, saying its coverage had been “tackier than a costume change at a Madonna concert”, and attacked the Democrats’ vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden.
“I am so tired of hearing about her lack of experience. She got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States,” he said, referring to Mr Biden’s performance in the Democratic primaries.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani followed Mr Huckabee on stage, calling the 2008 presidential election a “turning point” for the people of the US.
He charged the Democrats with being in denial about the threat from terrorism and said Mr McCain had the foreign policy, national security and leadership experience that counted.
“The choice in this election comes down to substance over style,” he said. “John has been tested. Barack Obama has not. Tough times require strong leadership, and this is no time for on the job training.”
Vetting questions
The Alaska governor’s speech comes amid scrutiny of her record and after two days dominated by the news her daughter Bristol, 17, is pregnant.
Mrs Palin and her family, including Bristol and her boyfriend, greeted Mr McCain at the airport as he arrived in Minnesota on Wednesday.
Ahead of her address, senior McCain campaign adviser Steve Schmidt issued a statement saying that media questions over how thoroughly Mrs Palin was vetted should end.
It has also been revealed that an attorney has been hired to represent Mrs Palin in an Alaska state ethics investigation involving alleged abuse of power.
Mrs Palin told US network CNBC she had “nothing to hide”. Her deposition is expected to be scheduled soon.
There have also been reports that Mrs Palin sought special financial favors for her city and state – something the McCain campaign is against.
She was elected governor of Alaska in 2006 and before that was mayor of the small town of Wasilla, Alaska.