By Alan Gomez and Randy Lilleston, USA TODAY
ST. PAUL — In his speech to the Republican National Convention later Thursday, John McCain will present himself as a leader who has acted to change the way government works, according to excerpts released by his campaign.
"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," McCain will say, according to the excerpts.
The excerpt is consistent with a major claim of this week's convention — that McCain's Democratic opponent, Barack Obama, has talked at length about changing government without backing his words with action.
McCain, the 72-year-old Arizona senator, will emphasize his life in public service and draw out the policy differences between him and Obama.
"I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's," McCain will say, according to the excerpts. "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."
He also will praise his pick for vice president, Alaska Gov. 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."
McCain will repeatedly emphasize the "country first" theme that has been a major part of the convention, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, national co-chair of the McCain campaign, told USA TODAY.
Obama's message of change "does not ring true," Pawlenty said, calling the Illinois senator a strong partisan with little record of stepping away from the party orthodoxy. McCain, on the other hand, has a clear record of independence, Pawlenty said, and the speech will give him a chance to outline those credentials.
In contrast to Obama's nomination speech last week, given to more than 80,000 people in a Denver football stadium, McCain will give his address in a far more intimate setting.
The convention's stage and podium have been reconfigured to create the "town hall" atmosphere McCain used so successfully in the primary season. The stage brings the crowd closer to McCain in what campaign manager Rick Davis called a "symbolic and practical" measure.
"His strength is in more of an intimate setting, a more conversational setting in tone," Pawlenty said.
McCain checked out the setup in midafternoon, chatting on stage with his wife, Cindy, and Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.
Cindy McCain will not introduce her husband, as first lady Laura Bush did for President Bush's video address on Monday. Instead, Davis said McCain's wife would talk about her humanitarian work around the world. A video will introduce the nominee before he speaks at about 10 p.m. ET.
She admitted that she was nervous about addressing delegates.
"I'd like people to know what makes me work and what makes me tick and who I am, what I'm all about and where I come from," she told ABC's Good Morning America. "I have an interesting story to tell as well in that it combines the two of us and makes us a couple and what we will represent."
She also told ABC "I don't agree" with McCain running mate Sarah Palin's opposition to abortion in cases of rape and incest, "but I do respect her for her views."
John McCain opposes most abortion rights, but has supported allowing abortions in cases of rape and incest. Palin's view that all abortions should be illegal has helped mollify social conservatives in the party who have had doubts about McCain because of his work with Democrats.
Other speakers tonight include Pawlenty and former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge — both considered finalists for the vice presidential slot eventually given to Palin.
The address comes one night after a well-received acceptance speech from Palin. Davis said the Alaska governor delivered a speech that immediately made her "a household name."
Thursday, Palin said she was looking forward to McCain's acceptance speech. "We are all very excited about tonight," she told reporters after meeting with a group of Republican governors in next-door Minneapolis. "The people of this country will once again see tonight the conviction and the character that make him a great man, an honorable man and will make him a great president."
In her Wednesday speech, Palin offered a sharp critique of Obama and Democratic running mate Joe Biden while explaining how her time as mayor in tiny Wasilla, Alaska (population 9,780) and governor have prepared her for the vice presidency.
"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities," she said. Before entering politics, Obama worked as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago.
Biden told USA TODAY this morning that he thought Palin was "very poised" and said he won't be able to match her "zingers." He said he believes she got a "raw deal" from critics and commentators who have zeroed in on her family and questioned her ability to raise her five children while serving as vice president.
"C'mon. This is 2008," Biden said in an interview in Norfolk, Va.
Obama, campaigning in York, Pa., dismissed the Republican criticisms of him.
"You're hearing an awfully lot about me — most of which is not true — but you're not hearing a lot about you," Obama said at a campaign event. "You haven't heard a word about how we're going to deal with any aspect of the economy that is affecting you and your pocketbook day-to-day."
McCain and Palin will leave St. Paul immediately after the speech and travel to the Milwaukee area for a Friday campaign rally. Obama and McCain meet in the first presidential debate on Sept. 26 at the University of Mississippi, while Palin and Biden will face off Oct. 2 at Washington University in St. Louis.
Contributing: David Jackson and Jill Lawrence in St. Paul; Charisse Jones in New York; Associated Press
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