CLEVELAND — Republican John McCain promised to pivot from President Bush’s economic policies and impose strict controls on government spending that would spur investor confidence and the stock market’s recovery.

“I will protect your savings and retirement accounts and get this stock market rising again,” said McCain, after huddling with economic advisers and pledging a break with Bush administration policies.

Aides said that McCain’s call for cuts in the capital gains tax and tax breaks for seniors who invest would help the market rebound, a nod to the top issue on voters’ minds little more than a week out from Election Day.

“A stronger economy with greater investor confidence would help turn the stock market around,” said Tucker Bounds, a McCain spokesman. “That would help drive up stock prices and the market recover.”

In his closing argument of the marathon election, McCain tread a thin line between bashing Democratic rival Barack Obama and making clear that he would steer a different course than the current GOP administration.

“We both disagree with President Bush on economic policies,” McCain said. “My approach is to get spending under control. The difference between us is he thinks taxes have been too low, and I think that spending has been too high.”

His most dramatic claim was a pledge to turn around a plunging stock market. Most of the progress he promised would come from the economic stimulus sparked by big tax cuts he’s pushing, McCain said.

“I will create millions of jobs through tax cuts that spur economic growth,” McCain said. The capital gains tax cut he’s proposing would encourage investors, Bounds said.

Before he spoke, McCain met with economic advisers including former rival Mitt Romney and former Housing Secretary Jack Kemp. The event was designed to focus his message on the economic meltdown that has dominated the campaign and left him on the defensive. The downturn has helped boost Obama to a lead in the polls, both nationally and in key battleground states like Ohio.

“The difference between myself and Sen. Obama is my plan will create jobs, it’s a difference of millions of jobs in America,” McCain said. “My approach will lead to rising stock market prices, a stabilized housing market, economic growth and millions of new jobs.”

Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton responded, “A day after John McCain said that he agreed with George Bush’s economic philosophy, he continued to parrot the same failed policies that give billions to billionaires and big corporations while providing no relief at all to more than 100 million middle-class Americans.”

McCain’s meeting with economic advisers came as polls show him trailing Obama, with most Americans deeply worried about the direction of the economy. For weeks McCain has been seeking to distance himself from Bush and his economic policies and he made that break complete in the nation’s industrial heartland. Obama has tried equally hard to tie McCain to Bush, repeatedly citing McCain’s 90 percent support for Bush in Senate votes.

At a rally in Dayton, McCain continued to criticize Obama.

“That’s what change means for the Obama administration, it means taking your money and giving it to someone else,” said McCain. He ridiculed Obama’s argument that his tax plan was based on fairness.

“There’s nothing fair about driving our economy into the ground and we all suffer when that happens,” said McCain. “We’ll cut business taxes to help American jobs and keep American business in America.”

McCain opposed another economic stimulus package and said he would instead seek to bring spending under control. He made clear the advisers he met with would be part of his administration and it would steer a far different course than Bush.

McCain described an economic stimulus plan under discussion in Congress as “another $300 billion spending spree they are calling a stimulus plan.”

“I would rather give the great American middle class additional tax cuts and let you keep the money and invest it in your future,” said McCain.

McCain repeated his proposals to cut taxes for those who hold stocks for at least a year, and end requirements that force people to take money out of retirement accounts during the market’s downturn.

He also said he would toughen rules governing the financial markets.

“I will demand complete transparency into the accounts and activities at all banks and insurance companies so they cannot take on the kind of risk that brought down the financial system,” said McCain. “We will have strict rules of conduct on Wall Street and if they are broken, executives will be severely punished.”

While he voted for a $700 billion rescue package for the financial sector, McCain said “the government will get out of the banking business fast” if he’s elected.

Dayton, Ohio

It’s great to be back in Ohio. We need to win Ohio on November 4th, and with your help we’re going to win here, and bring real change to Washington, DC.

It’s been a long campaign and we’ve heard a lot of words, and great campaign trail eloquence. The amazing thing is that we’ve learned more about Senator Obama’s real goals for our country over the last two weeks than we learned over the past two years. It is amazing that even at this late hour, we are still learning more about Senator Obama and his agenda. He told Joe the plumber right here in Ohio he wants to quote “spread the wealth around.” It’s always more interesting to hear what people have to say in these unscripted moments, and today we heard another moment like this from Senator Obama.

In a radio interview revealed today, he said that one of the quote — “tragedies” of the civil rights movement is that it didn’t bring about a redistribution of wealth in our society. He said, and I quote, “One of the tragedies of the Civil Rights movement was because the Civil Rights movement became so court-focused I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributive change.”

That is what change means for Barack the Redistributor: It means taking your money and giving it to someone else. He believes in redistributing wealth, not in policies that grow our economy and create jobs. He is more interested in controlling wealth than in creating it, in redistributing money instead of spreading opportunity. I am going to create wealth for all Americans, by creating opportunity for all Americans.

We’ve all heard his campaign trail promise: he says he only wants to tax the rich. But these unscripted moments and his record tell a different story. He supported the Democratic budget plan passed just this year that called for raising taxes on people making just 42,000 dollars per year. And Senator Obama has voted 94 times for tax increases or against tax cuts.

Senator Obama may say he’s trying to soak the rich, but it’s the middle class who are going to get put through the wringer, because even the tax increase he admits to misses the target. To pay for nearly a trillion dollars in new government spending, his tax increase would impact 50 percent of small business income in this country, and the jobs of 16 million middle class Americans who work for those small businesses.

Whether it’s Joe the Plumber here in Ohio or the working men and women across this country, we shouldn’t be taxing our small businesses more as Senator Obama wants to do, we need to be helping them expand their businesses and create jobs. America didn’t become the greatest nation on earth by giving our money to the government to “redistribute.” In this country, we believe in spreading opportunity, for those who need jobs and those who create them. And that is exactly what I intend to do as President of the United States.

My opponent’s massive new tax increase is exactly the wrong approach in an economic slowdown. The answer to a slowing economy is not higher taxes, but that is exactly what is going to happen when the Democrats have total control of Washington. We can’t let that happen. We need pro-growth and pro-jobs economic policies, not pro-government spending programs paid for with higher taxes.

This is the fundamental difference between Senator Obama and me. We both disagree with President Bush on economic policy. The difference is that he thinks taxes have been too low, and I think that spending has been too high. Senator Obama’s priority is not to get spending under control, it is to spend more, and if he has to tax you to do it, he’s shown in the past that he doesn’t have a problem with that.

We cannot spend the next four years as we have spent much of the last eight: spending ourselves into a ditch and hoping that the consequences don’t come. We need to get our government under control, and we need to get our economy moving again. We have to act. We need a new direction, and we have to fight for it.

I’ve been fighting for this country since I was seventeen years old, and I have the scars to prove it. If I’m elected President, I will fight to shake up Washington and take America in a new direction from my first day in office until my last. I’m not afraid of the fight, I’m ready for it.

I’m not going to spend $750 billion dollars of your money just bailing out the Wall Street bankers and brokers who got us into this mess. I’m going to make sure we take care of the working people who were devastated by the excesses of Wall Street and Washington.

I have a plan to hold the line on taxes and cut them to make America more competitive and create jobs here at home. We’re going to double the child deduction for working families. We will cut the capital gains tax. And we will cut business taxes to help create jobs, and keep American businesses in America. Raising taxes makes a bad economy much worse. Keeping taxes low creates jobs, keeps money in your hands and strengthens our economy.

If I’m elected President, I won’t spend nearly a trillion dollars more of your money. Senator Obama will. And he can’t do that without raising your taxes or digging us further into debt. I’m going to make government live on a budget just like you do.

I will freeze government spending on all but the most important programs like defense, veterans care, Social Security and health care until we scrub every single government program and get rid of the ones that aren’t working for the American people. And I will veto every single pork barrel bill Congresses passes.

If I’m elected President, we’re going to stop spending $700 billion to buy oil from countries that don’t like us very much. Senator Obama will argue to delay drilling for more oil and gas and against building new nuclear power plants in America. If I am president, we will start new drilling now. We will invest in all energy alternatives — nuclear, wind, solar, and tide. We will encourage the manufacture of hybrid, flex fuel and electric automobiles. We will invest in clean coal technology. We will lower the cost of energy within months, and we will create millions of new jobs.

Let me give you the state of the race today. There’s eight days to go. We’re a few points down. The pundits have written us off, just like they’ve done before. My opponent is working out the details with Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid of their plans to raise your taxes, increase spending, and concede defeat in Iraq. He’s measuring the drapes, and he’s planned his first address to the nation for before the election. I guess I’m old fashioned about these things I prefer to let the voters weigh in before presuming the outcome.

What America needs now is someone who will finish the race before the starting the victory lap … someone who will fight to the end, and not for himself but for his country.

I have fought for you most of my life, and in places where defeat meant more than returning to the Senate. There are other ways to love this country, but I’ve never been the kind to back down when the stakes are high.

I know you’re worried. America is a great country, but we are at a moment of national crisis that will determine our future.

Will we continue to lead the world’s economies or will we be overtaken? Will the world become safer or more dangerous? Will our military remain the strongest in the world? Will our children and grandchildren’s future be brighter than ours?

My answer to you is yes. Yes, we will lead. Yes, we will prosper. Yes, we will be safer. Yes, we will pass on to our children a stronger, better country. But we must be prepared to act swiftly, boldly, with courage and wisdom.

I’m an American. And I choose to fight. Don’t give up hope. Be strong. Have courage. And fight.

Fight for a new direction for our country. Fight for what’s right for America.

Fight to clean up the mess of corruption, infighting and selfishness in Washington.

Fight to get our economy out of the ditch and back in the lead.

Fight for the ideals and character of a free people.

Fight for our children’s future.

Fight for justice and opportunity for all.

Stand up to defend our country from its enemies.

Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. America is worth fighting for. Nothing is inevitable here. We never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history.

Now, let’s go win this election and get this country moving again.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain continued his criticism of Sen. Barack Obama’s tax plan before a raucous crowd of 4,000 at Denver’s National Western Arena.

“After months of campaign-trail eloquence, we’ve finally learned what Sen. Obama’s economic goal is. As he told Joe the plumber back in Ohio, he wants to quote ’spread the wealth around,’ ” McCain said. “Just this morning, he said it again. He believes in redistributing wealth, not in policies that grow our economy and create jobs.”

The first of McCain’s three Colorado stops Friday began with introductions by two former Broncos. John Lynch and John Elway warmed up the crowd to ear-splitting applause.

Elway said McCain knows how to show “leadership and sacrifice for the good of the team.”

Turning to the candidate, he said “It’s the fourth quarter, and some have counted you out. But I know a thing or two about comebacks.”

Elway urged everyone to vote. “We need to put someone in the White House who puts country first.”

Early in the event, protesters disrupted McCain’s speech. A small group was chanting and egging on security while the crowd responded with chants of “USA, USA.” Security finally removed the protesters.

McCain returned to his remarks, saying: “We’ve already seen a preview of their plans. It’s pretty simple and pretty familiar: tax and spend. When the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee (Rep. Barney Frank) says that they are going to, quote, ‘focus on an immediate increase in spending,’ we should take him at his word. And when he says that there are, quote, ‘a lot of very rich people out there whom we can tax,’ it’s safe to assume that means you.”

McCain also took time to praise his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who made her own trip to the state Monday.

McCain touched on another theme he has been hitting this week ‚Äî Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden’s remark that if elected, Obama will be “tested.”

“The next president won’t have time to get used to the office,” McCain said. “We face many challenges here at home and many enemies abroad in this dangerous world. This weekend, Sen. Biden guaranteed that if Sen. Obama is elected, we will have an international crisis to test America’s new president. We don’t want a president who invites testing from the world at a time when our economy is in crisis and Americans are already fighting in two wars.

“Yesterday, Sen. Obama tried to explain away this warning by saying that his running mate sometimes engages in ‘rhetorical flourishes.’ That’s another way of saying that he accidentally delivered some straight talk.”

McCain reiterated his intention to freeze government spending on “all but the most important programs, like defense, veterans care, Social Security and health care until we scrub every single government program and get rid of the ones that aren’t working for the American people.”

And, acknowledging that he may have an uphill battle to fight in the final week of the campaign, he vowed to fight for every vote.

“I know you’re worried. America is a great country, but we are at a moment of national crisis that will determine our future,” he said. “Will we continue to lead the world’s economies or will we be overtaken? Will the world become safer or more dangerous? Will our military remain the strongest in the world? Will our children and grandchildren’s future be brighter than ours?

“My answer to you is ‘yes.’ Yes, we will lead. Yes, we will prosper. Yes, we will be safer. Yes, we will pass on to our children a stronger, better country. But we must be prepared to act swiftly, boldly, with courage and wisdom.”

McCain’s speech ended with a football coach-like call to arms.

“Now, let’s go win this election and get this country moving again,” he said to thunderous applause.

The crowd that packed the arena was enthusiastic. Wearing white plastic cowboy hats and waving signs that read “Cowgirls for McCain” and “Don’t spread the wealth. Let Joe keep his dough,” the excited crowd ‚Äî spanning in age from a few months to senior citizens ‚Äî clapped hands to “Johnny be Good” and chanted, “We want John.”

Tom Rowland, 42, and his wife drove from Castle Rock to see McCain today. Rowland said he doesn’t believe that government is the answer to the country’s problems.

“John McCain is the ‘empower the people’ kind of candidate,” he said. Turning to Obama, Rowland said he didn’t like his tax plan, which he said “takes tax money from people paying taxes and gives it those who don’t.”

“It’s the very definition of socialism,” he said.

McCain and Palin have said during the past two weeks that Obama’s economic plans resemble socialist policies. It’s a message that appears to be working.

When asked why he likes McCain, Chris Vaughan, a small business owner and U.S. Marine, said: “Well for one thing, he isn’t a socialist.”

Vaughan also said that he doesn’t think Obama has the kind of experience McCain has and that his “trickle up” economic policy won’t work.

“McCain has the right experience. He’s run a clean campaign with no contradictions. Obama says one thing one place and says another somewhere else,” he said.

Kati Ansay and Carolyn Fuller, both 14, took a day off from school in Centennial to come see McCain with Fuller’s father.

“Obama’s really ridiculous. He’s like a socialist,” said Fuller.

Both girls said they supported McCain because he’s “pro-life” and is willing “to help the middle class.”

September 2008

The candidate’s policies are broken into four categories: tax, health care, energy, and other spending/savings. To show the effect when programs are fully in place, estimates of budget effects are for 2013. Policies that would enlarge the deficit (or reduce the surplus) are shown as negative numbers, and those that would reduce the deficit (or increase the surplus) are shown as positive numbers.

Tax Policy: -$294 billion

Senator McCain supports renewing and making most of the major tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 permanent, which will otherwise expire at the end of 2010. The cuts include lower individual income tax rates, the expanded child tax credit, reduced tax rates for capital gains and dividends, reduced marriage penalties, the elimination of the estate tax (which Senator McCain would restore in part), and various other provisions. This estimate is the cost of making all of the tax cuts permanent.

Reinstate a Smaller Estate Tax: +$10 billion.

Under current law the estate tax will disappear completely in 2010 and then reemerge at 2001 levels in 2011, taxing estates worth over $1 million at a top rate of 55%. Senator McCain supports supplanting this policy with a permanent estate tax with a top rate of 15% and a $5 million exemption ($10 million per family).

Reform the Alternative Minimum Tax: -$107 billion.

Senator McCain would reform the Alternative Minimum Tax by extending the current patch, indexing the exemption amount for inflation through 2013, and indexing it by inflation plus five% thereafter until it reaches $143,000. Over time, the AMT would be significantly reduced, though not eliminated, under this policy.

Double the Personal Exemption for Dependents: -$30 billion / -$15 billion.

Rather than allowing the dependent exemption to grow with inflation, as provided by current law, Senator McCain would increase the $3,500 exemption by $500 per year until it reaches $7,000, and thereafter index it for inflation. He would immediately double the exemption for families making under $50,000 a year, rather than phase in his change. The personal exemption would remain $3,500 and indexed by inflation, as under current law.

Reduce the Federal Corporate Income Tax Rate: -$68 billion / -$55 billion.

Senator McCain would lower the top corporate income tax rate from 35% to 25%. This would be phased in, with the top rate reduced to 30% in 2010 and 2011, to 28% in 2012 and 2013, to 26% in 2014, and to 25% thereafter. Senator McCain would also repeal the domestic production activities deduction, which would no longer be necessary under his proposal.

Allow Expensing: +$25 billion / -$15 billion.

Senator McCain would temporarily allow corporations to immediately deduct the cost of three- and five-year investments in equipment, rather than depreciating the costs over a longer time period. He would also disallow the interest deduction on expensed equipment. The policy would expire in 2013.

Reform the Research and Experimentation Tax Credit: -$13 billion.

The Research and Experimentation Tax Credit (commonly referred to as the R&E or R&D credit), which provided a 20% tax credit for qualified expenses, expired on Dec. 31, 2007. Senator McCain has proposed replacing it with a permanent tax credit worth 10% of all wages spent on research and development.

Eliminate Preferential Tax Treatment for Oil Companies: +$2 billion.

Senator McCain has called for the repeal and reform of a number of tax preferences for oil companies including expensing of exploration and development costs, and other tax credits and accounting advantages.

Close Corporate Tax Loopholes: +$30 billion.

Senator McCain has proposed cutting “corporate welfare,” namely the preferential tax treatment of certain industries. Although he has not enumerated the specific parts of the tax code this would include, McCain’s campaign has pointed to tax breaks for life insurance companies, credit unions, and exporters. It has also said it would repeal Last In, First Out (LIFO) accounting rules.

Create an Optional/Alternative Individual Income Tax System: $0.

Senator McCain has proposed an optional, alternative tax system with two rates and a single large standard deduction to replace most existing deductions, exclusions, and credits.

According to the McCain campaign, this alternative system would be designed to ensure revenue neutrality. On the other hand, outside experts think that because most taxpayers will choose the system in which they pay lower taxes, significant revenue would be lost.

Total Budget Effect of Tax Policies in 2013: -$417 billion to -$485 billion.

Health Care

Create a Refundable Health Insurance Tax Credit: -$288 billion/ -$364 billion.

Senator McCain would offer a $2,500 refundable tax credit for individuals ($5,000 for families) who purchase health insurance. Credit amounts exceeding premium costs could go into a health savings account. The net costs of the policy (cost of the new refundable credit minus savings from eliminating the tax exclusion for employer-provided health insurance) would decline over time.

Eliminate Tax Exclusion for Employer-Provided Health Insurance: +$201 billion/ +$274 billion.

Senator McCain’s health insurance tax credit would replace the current exclusion that allows companies to offer health care benefits to employees free from taxation. Under the McCain plan, employer-provided health insurance benefits would be taxed as normal income for individual income tax purposes. Health insurance would not be subject to the payroll tax, however; and employers would continue to deduct health insurance coverage costs.

Expand Health Savings Accounts: -$1 billion / -$9 billion.

Senator McCain supports expanding health savings accounts, which allow people to save money, tax free, to finance health care costs.

Establish a “Guaranteed Access Plan”: -$8 billion.

Senator McCain has said he would work with states to create institutions that would expand insurance access to high-risk or traditionally uninsurable individuals. Under this plan, state governments and nonprofit institutions would pool individuals who want coverage and contract with insurers for them, while offering limits on premiums.

Impose Higher Medicare Premiums for the Wealthy: +$2 billion.

Senator McCain supports charging higher premiums for wealthy individuals enrolled in the Medicare prescription drug program (Medicare Part D).

Reduce Overall Health Care Costs: +$40 billion.

Senator McCain has proposed a number of measures to slow the growth of health care costs, including the promotion of information technology in health care and the facilitation of national standards for measuring and recording treatments and outcomes. He would encourage more transparency within the health care system and more coordinated care and disease management. Additionally, among other measures, McCain supports legalizing prescription drug re-importation, reforming the medical malpractice liability system, and encouraging states to experiment with cost-cutting tools. He would also reform the Medicare and Medicaid payment systems to ensure that the programs do not pay for preventable medical errors or mismanagement, and he would reduce Medicare fraud.

Total Budget Effect of Health Care Policies in 2013: -$54 billion to -$65 billion.

Energy Policy

Implement a Cap-and-Trade System: +$5 billion.

Senator McCain supports the creation of a cap-and-trade system to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Some permits would be auctioned while others would be distributed freely to market actors. According to the Congressional Budget Office, if all permits were auctioned they could be worth between $50 billion and $300 billion annually by 2020. However, only a small portion of these permits is likely to be auctioned and we assume they would raise $5 billion. Whatever the revenue amount, according to the campaign, all revenues would be spent funding energy-related policies.

Invest in Green Technology: -$5 billion.

Senator McCain supports a number of initiatives to increase energy independence and expand clean energy technology. These include “clean coal technology,” tax credits and prizes for the use and development of clean transportation technology, and the creation of 45 new nuclear power plants by 2030.

Total Budget Effect of Energy Policies in 2013: $0.

Other Spending/Savings

Offer Targeted Assistance to Older Workers: -$4 billion.

As part of a comprehensive reform that would add private Lost Earnings Buffer (LEB) accounts to the current unemployment system, Senator McCain would offer Lost Earnings Supplements for older workers who take lower-paying jobs. Workers over 55 years old would be eligible for the supplement and would be paid up to 50% of their lost earnings (up to $10,000) for two years.

Eliminate Earmarks +$35 billion

Senator McCain has promised to end earmarking, the practice that allows members of Congress to direct funds to a specific (and often local) project during the legislative process. He has promised to veto bills with earmarks in them, and to cut spending from earmarks already enacted.

Freeze Domestic Discretionary Spending: +$21 billion.

Senator McCain has proposed a one-year period during which all discretionary spending, except for certain military and veterans programs, would be held constant. During this year, the effectiveness of all government programs would be reviewed.

Fully Fund No Child Left Behind: $0 billion (current levels) $0/ -$13 billion (fully funded).

Senator McCain has called for full funding of No Child Left Behind. There has been disagreement within the campaign about whether the program would be funded at current levels, which would not increase the budget beyond the baseline, or whether the maximum amount of funds authorized for the program would be requested.

Increase the Size of the Military: -$10 billion.

Senator McCain has proposed increasing the size of the Army and the Marine Corps. We assume that he would continue to add the 65,000 soldiers and 27,000 Marines, currently being implemented.

Reduce the Troop Presence in Iraq -$5 billion

Senator McCain has suggested that the United States will be able to withdraw some of its troops from Iraq by 2013. We assume that he would reduce the total number of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to 75,000 by 2013. This policy would cost money compared to the current baseline assumptions that do not fully fund the war.

Implement Unspecified Cuts to Balance the Budget: +$159 billion.

The campaign has said a McCain administration would reduce spending by enough to balance the budget by 2013. Although the campaign has not announced many specifics, it has stated that McCain would slow discretionary spending by cutting or ending nondefense and Pentagon procurements such as the airborne laser, Globemaster, Future Combat System and reduce mandatory spending by decreasing agricultural and ethanol subsidies and enacting other reforms. They would also conduct a review of government programs and propose a plan to modernize, streamline, consolidate, reprioritize or terminate those programs found to be redundant or underperforming.

Total Budget Effect of Other Spending/Savings Policies in 2013: +$183 billion to +$196 billion.

In my life, no success has come without a good fight, and this nomination wasn’t any different. That’s a tribute to the candidates who opposed me and their supporters. They’re leaders of great ability, who love our country, and wished to lead it to better days. Their support is an honor I won’t forget.

I’m grateful to the President for leading us in those dark days following the worst attack on American soil in our history, and keeping us safe from another attack many thought was inevitable; and to the First Lady, Laura Bush, a model of grace and kindness in public and in private. And I’m grateful to the 41st President and his bride of 63 years, and for their outstanding example of honorable service to our country.

As always, I’m indebted to my wife, Cindy, and my seven children. The pleasures of family life can seem like a brief holiday from the crowded calendar of our nation’s business. But I have treasured them all the more, and can’t imagine a life without the happiness you give me. Cindy said a lot of nice things about me tonight. But, in truth, she’s more my inspiration than I am hers. Her concern for those less blessed than we are Рvictims of land mines, children born in poverty and with birth defects Рshows the measure of her humanity. I know she will make a great First Lady.

When I was growing up, my father was often at sea, and the job of raising my brother, sister and me would fall to my mother alone. Roberta McCain gave us her love of life, her deep interest in the world, her strength, and her belief we are all meant to use our opportunities to make ourselves useful to our country. I wouldn’t be here tonight but for the strength of her character.

My heartfelt thanks to all of you, who helped me win this nomination, and stood by me when the odds were long. I won’t let you down. To Americans who have yet to decide who to vote for, thank you for your consideration and the opportunity to win your trust. I intend to earn it.

Finally, a word to Senator Obama and his supporters. We’ll go at it over the next two months. That’s the nature of these contests, and there are big differences between us. But you have my respect and admiration. Despite our differences, much more unites us than divides us. We are fellow Americans, an association that means more to me than any other. We’re dedicated to the proposition that all people are created equal and endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights. No country ever had a greater cause than that. And I wouldn’t be an American worthy of the name if I didn’t honor Senator Obama and his supporters for their achievement.

But let there be no doubt, my friends, we’re going to win this election. And after we’ve won, we’re going to reach out our hand to any willing patriot, make this government start working for you again, and get this country back on the road to prosperity and peace.

These are tough times for many of you. You’re worried about keeping your job or finding a new one, and are struggling to put food on the table and stay in your home. All you ever asked of government is to stand on your side, not in your way. And that’s just what I intend to do: stand on your side and fight for your future.

And I’ve found just the right partner to help me shake up Washington, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. She has executive experience and a real record of accomplishment. She’s tackled tough problems like energy independence and corruption. She’s balanced a budget, cut taxes, and taken on the special interests. She’s reached across the aisle and asked Republicans, Democrats and Independents to serve in her administration. She’s the mother of five children. She’s helped run a small business, worked with her hands and knows what it’s like to worry about mortgage payments and health care and the cost of gasoline and groceries.

She knows where she comes from and she knows who she works for. She stands up for what’s right, and she doesn’t let anyone tell her to sit down. 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.

I’m not in the habit of breaking promises to my country and neither is Governor Palin. And when we tell you we’re going to change Washington, and stop leaving our country’s problems for some unluckier generation to fix, you can count on it. We’ve got a record of doing just that, and the strength, experience, judgment and backbone to keep our word to you.

You know, I’ve been called a maverick; someone who marches to the beat of his own drum. Sometimes it’s meant as a compliment and 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 a special interest. I don’t work for myself. I work for you.

I’ve fought corruption, and it didn’t matter if the culprits were Democrats or Republicans. They violated their public trust, and had to be held accountable. I’ve fought big spenders in both parties, who waste your money on things you neither need nor want, while you struggle to buy groceries, fill your gas tank and make your mortgage payment. I’ve fought to get million dollar checks out of our elections. I’ve fought lobbyists who stole from Indian tribes. I fought crooked deals in the Pentagon. I fought tobacco companies and trial lawyers, drug companies and union bosses.

I fought for the right strategy and more troops in Iraq, when it wasn’t a 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 Petraeus, and the brave men and women he has the honor to command, that strategy succeeded and rescued us from a defeat that would have demoralized our military, risked a wider war and threatened the security of all Americans.

I don’t mind a good fight. For reasons known only to God, I’ve had quite a few tough ones in my life. But I learned an important lesson along the way. In the end, it matters less that you can fight. What you fight for is the real test.

I fight for Americans. I fight for you. I fight for Bill and Sue Nebe from Farmington Hills, Michigan, who lost their real estate investments in the bad housing market. Bill got a temporary job after he was out of work for seven months. Sue works three jobs to help pay the bills.

I fight for Jake and Toni Wimmer of Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Jake works on a loading dock; coaches Little League, and raises money for the mentally and physically disabled. Toni is a schoolteacher, working toward her Master’s Degree. They have two sons, the youngest, Luke, has been diagnosed with autism. Their lives should matter to the people they elect to office. They matter to me.

I fight for the family of Matthew Stanley of Wolfboro, New Hampshire, who died serving our country in Iraq. I wear his bracelet and think of him every day. I intend to honor their sacrifice by making sure the country their son loved so well and never returned to, remains safe from its enemies.

I 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 rather than reform government, both parties made it bigger. We lost their trust when instead of freeing ourselves from a dangerous dependence on foreign oil, both parties and Senator Obama passed another corporate welfare bill for oil companies. We lost their trust, when we valued our power over our principles.

We’re going to change that. We’re going to recover the people’s trust by standing up again for the values Americans admire. The party of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Reagan is going to get back to basics.

We believe everyone has something to contribute and deserves the opportunity to reach their God-given potential from the boy whose descendents arrived on the Mayflower to the Latina daughter of migrant workers. We’re all God’s children and we’re all Americans.

We believe in low taxes; spending discipline, and open markets. We believe in rewarding hard work and risk takers and letting people keep the fruits of their labor.

We believe in a strong defense, work, faith, service, a culture of life, personal responsibility, the rule of law, and judges who dispense justice impartially and don’t legislate from the bench. We believe in the values of families, neighborhoods and communities.

We believe in a government that unleashes the creativity and initiative of Americans. Government that doesn’t make your choices for you, but works to make sure you have more choices to make for yourself.

I will keep taxes low and cut them where I can. My opponent will raise them. I will open new markets to our goods and services. My opponent will close them. I will cut government spending. He will increase it.

My tax cuts will create jobs. His tax increases will eliminate them. My health care plan will make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good health care insurance. His plan will force small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a government run health care system where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor.

Keeping taxes low helps small businesses grow and create new jobs. Cutting the second highest business tax rate in the world will help American companies compete and keep jobs from moving overseas. Doubling the child tax exemption from $3500 to $7000 will improve the lives of millions of American families. Reducing government spending and getting rid of failed programs will let you keep more of your own money to save, spend and invest as you see fit. Opening new markets and preparing workers to compete in the world economy is essential to our future prosperity.

I know some of you have been left behind in the changing economy and it often seems your government hasn’t even noticed. Government assistance for unemployed workers was designed for the economy of the 1950s. That’s going to change on my watch. My opponent promises to bring back old jobs by wishing away the global economy. We’re going to help workers who’ve lost a job that won’t come back, find a new one that won’t go away.

We will prepare them for the jobs of today. We will use our community colleges to help train people for new opportunities in their communities. For workers in industries that have been hard hit, we’ll help make up part of the difference in wages between their old job and a temporary, lower paid one while they receive retraining that will help them find secure new employment at a decent wage.

Education is the civil rights issue of this century. Equal access to public education has been gained. But what is the value of access to a failing school? We need to shake up failed school bureaucracies with competition, empower parents with choice, remove barriers to qualified instructors, attract and reward good teachers, and help bad teachers find another line of work.

When a public school fails to meet its obligations to students, parents deserve a choice in the education of their children. And I intend to give it to them. Some may choose a better public school. Some may choose a private one. Many will choose a charter school. But they will have that choice and their children will have that opportunity.

Senator Obama wants our schools to answer to unions and entrenched bureaucracies. I want schools to answer to parents and students. And when I’m President, they will.

My fellow Americans, when I’m President, we’re going to embark on the most ambitious national project in decades. We are going to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don’t like us very much. We will attack the problem on every front. We will produce more energy at home. We will drill new wells offshore, and we’ll drill them now. We will build more nuclear power plants. We will develop clean coal technology. We will increase the use of wind, tide, solar and natural gas. We will encourage the development and use of flex fuel, hybrid and electric automobiles.

Senator 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 to restore the health of our planet. It’s an ambitious plan, but Americans are ambitious by nature, and we have faced greater challenges. It’s time for us to show the world again how Americans lead.

This great national cause will create millions of new jobs, many in industries that will be the engine of our future prosperity; jobs that will be there when your children enter the workforce.

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 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 neighbor 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 prayers. As President, I will work to establish good relations with Russia so 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 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 should not 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.

When I was five years old, a car pulled up in front of our house. A Navy officer rolled down the window, and shouted at my father that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. I rarely saw my father again for four years. My grandfather came home from that same war exhausted from the burdens he had borne, and died the next day. 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 Рdiplomatic, economic, military and the power of our ideals Рto build the foundations for a stable and enduring peace.

In America, we change things that need to be changed. Each generation makes its contribution to our greatness. The work that is ours to do is plainly before us. We don’t need to search for it.

We need to change the way government does almost everything: from the way we protect our security to the way we compete in the world economy; from the way we respond to disasters to the way we fuel our transportation network; from the way we train our workers to the way we educate our children. All these functions of government were designed before the rise of the global economy, the information technology revolution and the end of the Cold War. 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 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.

Instead of rejecting good ideas because we didn’t think of them first, let’s use the best ideas from both sides. Instead of fighting over who gets the credit, let’s try sharing it. This amazing country can do anything we put our minds to. I will ask Democrats and Independents to serve with me. And my administration will set a new standard for transparency and accountability.

We’re going to finally start getting things done for the people who are counting on us, and I won’t care who gets the credit.

I’ve been an imperfect servant of my country for many years. But I have been her servant first, last and always. And I’ve never lived a day, in good times or bad, that I didn’t thank God for the privilege.

Long ago, something unusual happened to me that taught me the most valuable lesson of my life. I was blessed by misfortune. I mean that sincerely. I was blessed because I served in the company of heroes, and I witnessed a thousand acts of courage, compassion and love.

On an October morning, in the Gulf of Tonkin, I prepared for my 23rd mission over North Vietnam. I hadn’t any worry I wouldn’t come back safe and sound. I thought I was tougher than anyone. I was pretty independent then, too. I liked to bend a few rules, and pick a few fights for the fun of it. But I did it for my own pleasure; my own pride. 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. When they discovered my father was an admiral, they took me to a hospital. They couldn’t set my bones properly, so they just slapped a cast on me. When I didn’t get better, and was down to about a hundred pounds, they put me in a cell with two other Americans. I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t even feed myself. They did it for me. I was beginning to learn the limits of my selfish independence. Those men saved my life.

I was in solitary confinement when my captors offered to release me. I knew why. If I went home, they would use it as propaganda to demoralize my fellow prisoners. Our Code said we could only go home in the order of our capture, and there were men who had been shot down before me. I thought about it, though. I wasn’t in great shape, and I missed everything about America. But I turned it down.

A lot of prisoners had it worse than I did. I’d been mistreated before, but not as badly as others. I always liked to strut a little after I’d been roughed up to show the other guys I was tough enough to take it. But after I turned down their offer, they worked me over harder than they ever had before. For a long time. And they broke me.

When they brought me back to my cell, I was hurt and ashamed, and I didn’t know how I could face my fellow prisoners. The good man in the cell next door, my friend, Bob Craner, saved me. Through taps on a wall he told me I had fought as hard as I could. No man can always stand alone. And then he told me to get back up and fight again for our country and for the men I had the honor to serve with. Because every day they fought for me.

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.

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. My country saved me, and I cannot forget it. And I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help me God.

If you find faults with our country, make it a better one. If you’re disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them. Enlist in our Armed Forces. Become a teacher. Enter the ministry. Run for public office. Feed a hungry child. Teach an illiterate adult to read. Comfort the afflicted. Defend the rights of the oppressed. Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier. Because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself.

I’m going to fight for my cause every day as your President. I’m going to fight to make sure every American has every reason to thank God, as I thank Him: that I’m an American, a proud citizen of the greatest country on earth, and with hard work, strong faith and a little courage, great things are always within our reach. Fight with me. Fight with me.

Fight for what’s right for our country.

Fight for the ideals and character of a free people.

Fight for our children’s future.

Fight for justice and opportunity for all.

Stand up to defend our country from its enemies.

Stand up for each other; for beautiful, blessed, bountiful America.

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.

Thank you, and God Bless you.