McCain uses patriotism in bid to steal the show

John McCain sought yesterday to take back the spotlight from his running mate, Sarah Palin, pledging in a lofty address to the National Republican Convention to bludgeon the status quo in Washington and follow long-held instincts to bridge party divisions as a president.

In a speech billed as the most important of his life, Mr McCain also repeatedly set himself apart from Barack Obama. Lamenting the "constant partisan rancour," he said he would "reach out my hand to anyone to help me get this country moving again. I have that record and the scars to prove. Senator Obama does not."

He made an appeal to the country's emotions, weaving together themes of patriotism and his time spent in a prisoner-of-war camp in North Vietnam. "I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's," he said, according to extracts released in advance.

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"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."

Such was the frenzy created among delegates by Ms Palin's speech accepting the number two slot on Wednesday, aides to Mr McCain, 72, had privately fretted that he would leave this convention overshadowed. Carpenters had yesterday reconfigured the stage in St Paul almost with a catwalk into the audience, making it more of a town hall-meeting style of event, to which he is more accustomed.

Not that Mr McCain did not bask in the popularity of Mrs 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." A new CBS poll last night had Mr McCain and Mr Obama tied at 42 per cent each.

Mr McCain's speech marked the climax of one of the most gripping, neck-jarring weeks in the history of American politics. A convention that opened tentatively on Monday with most eyes directed towards Hurricane Gustav had by yesterday spun into the stratosphere thanks to bursting enthusiasm for Mrs Palin. But it left Mr McCain with the unexpected challenge of not allowing himself to be left in her shadow.

The mother of five thrilled delegates in her first campaign speech by tearing into the Democratic Senator, delivering repeated, sometimes sarcastic, attacks on his lack of executive experience and his "change" agenda.

"In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change" she said. She drew a contrast between Mr Obama's high-flown rhetoric and what she called the "determination, resolve and sheer guts" of John McCain.

This morning, Mr McCain will already have left St Paul with Mrs Palin for a short swing through several battleground states, aimed at building on the momentum from the convention and creating a bounce in the polls. Among questions not yet answered, however, is when Mrs Palin will begin campaigning alone and when she will begin to meet the press alone.

Getting the maelstrom of media reporting about the Governor under control, meanwhile, was a challenge still eluding the McCain campaign's generals. A tape was playing last night on YouTube of an exchange earlier in the day on MSNBC between a commentator, Peggy Noonan, and a consultant, Mike Murphy. Both thoughtful Republicans, they were chatting when they thought the microphones were off. "It's not going to work," says Murphy. "It's over," Noonan concurs.

She adds later: "I would think they went for the, excuse me, political bull***t about narratives ... Every time Republicans do that, because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at, they blow it." Murphy adds: "You know what's really the worst thing about it? The greatness of McCain is no cynicism and this is cynical."

Palin 'affair' report denied

Republican campaign managers were forced yesterday to slap down an allegation published in the National Enquirer claiming that Sarah Palin may have had an affair with a former business partner of her husband, Todd Palin.

"The allegations... insinuating that Governor Palin had an extramarital affair are categorically false. It is a vicious lie... The American people will reject it," said the Republican aide Steve Schmidt.

Tucker Bounds, a McCain spokesman, scoffed when asked about the story by The Independent. "It's the National Enquirer," he said, "like we trust that." It was the Enquirer, however, that led reporting on the recent scandal surrounding the former Democrat presidential contender John Edwards.

Clothes maketh the 'second family'

If a social commentator of the Lady Bracknell school were to describe the Palin family's rendition of formal wear, they might describe it as perfect... for one's first court appearance. In Alaska, check shirts and camouflage jackets are the order of the day, and family photographs tend to be set in the great outdoors, around the carcass of a moose. As a result, the would-be Second Family didn't so much wear their formal outfits on Wednesday, as get worn by them.

Sarah Palin carried off her two-piece with elegance: those three-quarter length sleeves looked rolled-up and ready for business. But Ms Palin has had 16 years in politics to refine her wardrobe, and is fortunate after five children to retain the slender profile and shapely calves that helped her to the title of Miss Wasilla, 1984.

Her husband, Todd, self-styled "first dude" and judge of this year's Miss Alaska, did well with a dark, two-buttoned suit. But would you buy a used car from him? Eldest son Track resembles a bodyguard, while daughters Bristol and Willow look like old-fashioned girls in pearls.

It's difficult not to feel sympathy for one young man in the line-up. Levi Johnston, Bristol's 18-year-old fiancé, carries his arms dead straight and has trouser creases so sharp they could draw blood. If he really has never worn a tie before, Levi had better get used to it: the coming months will bring the christening of his first-born, not to mention his wedding.

Guy Adams

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