US:JOHN McCAIN has hit the campaign trail with running mate Sarah Palin, promising voters in the battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan that they would bring a reforming zeal to the White House and transform Washington.
"It's over. It's over. It's over for the special interests," Mr McCain told supporters outside Milwaukee. "We're going to start working for the people of this country."
Mr McCain accepted the Republican presidential nomination in St Paul on Thursday night with a call for national unity and change in Washington, promising to put party divisions aside in pursuit of the American interest.
Mr McCain criticised Barack Obama but he also hit out at Republicans in congress, suggesting that they had abandoned their principles in recent years.
"We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us," he said.
"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."
A day after the vice-presidential nominee fired up the Republican base with an appeal to traditional conservative values, Mr McCain made a pitch for independent voters, promising to end partisan rancour in Washington.
"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," he said.
"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."
Mr McCain gave an unusually detailed account of his five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, describing how the experience had awakened him to a higher purpose and deepened his patriotism.
"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," he said.
"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."
Mr McCain's speech came as a new CBS poll showed the Republican wiping out a six-point lead Mr Obama built up after last week's Democratic convention in Denver. A Rasmussen poll published yesterday found that Ms Palin is now more popular than either Mr Obama or Mr McCain.