John McCain takes centre stage at the Republican convention in St Paul, Minnesota, later to lay out why he should be elected president after running mate Sarah Palin galvanised Republican loyalists yesterday.
For Mr McCain (72), it is the pinnacle of his career. The former Vietnam war prisoner, long considered by many a maverick in his party and distrusted by some in the conservative base, will receive the long-sought nomination to be his party's candidate in the November 4th election.
In his speech, Mr McCain will discuss his military background and his long career in public service, pledge to work in a bipartisan way and draw a contrast between his vision of the future and that of Democratic rival Barack Obama.
"John McCain will speak directly to the American people about his vision for reforming Washington, getting our economy back on track and securing the peace for the next generation," McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers said.
"He's obviously very excited, and after the address by Governor Palin last night, we are having two mavericks at the top of the ticket," Mr Rogers added.
Workers rebuilt the convention stage to resemble a "theater in the round" to enable Mr McCain to appear in the kind of town-hall setting that he enjoys on the campaign trail.
Democrats argue that Mr McCain offers more of the same policies as President George W. Bush.
But Ms Palin, the Alaska governor, last night electrified Republican delegates at the nominating convention with her rhetoric against Mr Obama and his running mate, veteran Senator Joe Biden.
She cheerfully shot down criticism from Democrats that her experience as governor and ex-mayor of tiny Wasilla, Alaska, did not match Mr Obama's as leader of a large presidential campaign.
"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organiser," except that you have actual responsibilities," she said in a swipe at Mr Obama's own early career in Chicago.
The Obama campaign responded by saying it had yet to hear how Mr McCain and Ms Palin would restore strong growth to the tepid US economy.
Mr Obama's senior adviser, Robert Gibbs, said the Republican convention throughout the night "were exceedingly negative, exceedingly divisive. And it sounded a lot like the politics that we're used to in the last eight years."
Democrats argue that the Arizona senator, by picking the relatively untested and unknown Ms Palin, had ceded his argument that Mr Obama was too inexperienced to be president.
But Mr McCain said he was satisfied she had the right experience and "over time people will compare her accomplishments with that of Senator Obama, and his are very meager."
Democratic vice-presidential candidate Mr Biden took what was likely to be his party's line - praise Ms Palin's speaking but not her message.
"I was impressed by that," Mr Biden said of the speech. "I also was impressed with what I didn't hear. I didn't hear a word mentioned about the middle class or health care or how people are going to fill up their tanks. I didn't hear a single word about how you're going to get a kid through college. So I was impressed by the speech but also about what I didn't hear spoken."
More than 37 million American TV viewers tuned in to watch Ms Palin's speech yesterday, just shy of the record set last week by Democratic presidential nominee Mr Obama, with over 38 million tuning in.
Reuters