History tv, every weekend on cspan three explore our nations past. Cspan 3. Created by americas Television Companies as a Public Service and brought to you today by your television provider. Up next Alaska Governor sarah palin accepts the nomination for Vice President at the Republican National convention in st. Paul, minnesota, her and president ial nominee senator mccain would lose the general election to democrats brock obama and joe biden. noise noise thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. noise so much. Thank you. Thank you so much. noise thank you so much. Thank you thank you. Thank you so much. noise mister chairman, delegates, and fellow citizens i would be honored to accept your nomination for Vice President of the United States. Thank you. applause i accept the call to serve and defend america and i accept the challenge of a tough fight in this election against confident opponents at the crucial hour for our country. And i accept the privilege of serving with a man whos come through much Harder Missions and met far graver challenges and knows how tough fights our one. The next president of the United States, john as mccain. It was just a year ago when all the experts and washington counted out our nominee because he refused to hedge his commitment to the security of the country he loves. With their usual certitude they told us that all was lost, there is no hope for this candidate who said he would rather lose an election than see his country lose a war. But the pollsters, the pollsters and the pundits overlooked just one thing when they wrote him off. They overlooked the caliber of the man himself. The determination and resolve, and the sheer guts of senator john mccain. applause the voters knew better and maybe thats because they realize there is a time for politics, and a time for leadership. A time to campaign, and a time to put our country first. applause our nominee for president is a true profile in courage and people like that are hard to come by. Hes a man who wore the uniform of his country for 22 years and refuses to break faith with those troops in iraq who have now but victory with insight. applause and as a mother of one of those troops that is exactly the kind of mean that i want as commander and chief. applause thank you. Im just one of many moms who will say an extra prayer at night for our sons and daughters going into harms way. Our son track is a 19 and one week from tomorrow, september 11th he will deploy into iraq with the Army Infantry for the service of his country. My nephew casey also enlisted and serves in the carrier but the persian gulf. My familys approach of them and all the fine men and women serving the country in uniform. noise so track is the eldest of our five children, and our family its two boys and three girls in between. My strong and heard kind hearted daughters its willow and crystal and paper. applause and we were so blessed in april, todd and i welcomed our littlest one into the world, it perfectly beautiful little boy named trig. You know from the inside no family ever scenes typical, and thats how it is with us. Our family has the same ups and downs as any other, the same challenges in the same joys, sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge. And children with special needs inspire a very very special love. To the families of special needs. applause to the families of special Needs Children all across this country i have a message for you. For years you have sought to make america a more welcoming place your sons and daughters. And i pledged to you that if we are elected you will have a friend and advocate in the white house. applause and todd is a story all by himself. Hes a long time production fishermen and a operator in alaskas oil slope and a proud member of the americas steel union and todd is a World Champion snow mobile racer. Throw in his ask moe and sister and it all makes for quite a package. We met in high school and two decades and five children later he is still my guy. applause my mom and dad both worked at the Elementary School in our small town, and among the many things that i owe them is a very simple lessons that i learned that this is america and every woman can walk through every door of opportunity and my parents are here tonight. I am so proud to be the daughter of tim and sally. Long ago, a young farmer and a haberdasher from missouri, he followed a unlikely path. He followed a unlikely path to the vice presidency and a writer observed we grow good people in our small towns with honesty and sincerity and dignity. And i know just the kinds of people that writer had in mind when he raised harry truman. I grew up with those people. Theyre the ones to do some of the hardest work in america. Who grow our food and run our factories and fight our wars. They love their country in good times and bad, and they are always proud of america. applause i had the privilege of liz living most of my life in a small town. I was your average hockey mom and signed up for the ptsd. applause laughs i love those hockey moms you know they say the difference between a hockey mom and pitbull . Lipstick. applause so i signed up for the pga because i want to make my kids Public Education even better. And when i ran for city council i dont need focus groups or voter profiles because i knew those voters and i knew their families as well. Before i became governor of the great state of alaska, i was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents and this president ial election seemed to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess, i guess a small town mayor is sort of like a Community Organizer except that you have actual responsibilities. applause i might add, i might add that in small towns we dont quite know what to make of candidates who lavishes praise on people when they are listening and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion or guns when those people arent listening. applause we tend to prefer candidates that dont talk about us one way in scranton and another way in san francisco. applause as for my running mate, we can be certain that wherever we go and whoever is listening and john mccain is the same man. applause well i am not a member of the permanent political establishment. And ive learned quickly these last few days that if youre not a member in Good Standing of the washington elite than some in the media consider a candidate and qualified for that reason alone. But, heres a little news flash. noise heres a little news flash from those reporters and commentators, im not going to washington to seek their bit opinion, im going to washington to serve the people of this great country. noise americans expect us to go to washington for the right reasons and not just to mingle with the right people. Politics isnt just a game of clashing parties and competing interests. The rate reason is to challenge the status quo, to serve the common good and to leave this nation better than we found it. applause no one expects us all to agree on everything, but we are expected to govern with integrity and goodwill and clear convictions and to serve with heart. And i pledge to all americans that i will carry myself with this spirit as the Vice President of the United States. applause this was the spirit that brought me to the Governors Office when i took on the politics as usual into no, but ice but stepped up to the special interests and the governors and the lobbyists and the good old boys suddenly i realized that settle and relentless reform never sits well with entrenched interests and powerbrokers. Thats why true reform is so hard to achieve, but with the support of the citizens of alaska we shook things up and in short order we put the government of our state back on the side of the people. applause i came to office comes a major Ethics Reform to and the culture of self dealing and now the cultural form is the low but well what it was that i got rid of a few things in the office that i dont believe the citizens should have to pay for. The luxury jet was over the top. applause i put it on ebay. I love to drive myself to work, and i thought we could muddle through without the governors personal chef, although ive got to admit that sometimes my kids sure miss her. I came to office promising to control spending by request if possible, but by veto if necessary. Senator mccain also, he promises to use the power of veto defends of the public interest, and as a chief executive i can assure you it works. noise our state budget is under control, we have a surplus and i protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending, nearly half a billion dollars in vetoes. applause we suspended the state fuel tax and championed reform to when the abuses of your expended by congress. I told the Congress Thanks but no thanks on that bridge to nowhere. applause if our state wanted to build a bridge we were going to build it ourselves. When oil and gas prices went up dramatically and filled up the state treasury i sent a large share of that revenue back to where it belongs, directly to the people of alaska. applause and despite fierce competition from oil company lobbyists who kind of liked the way things were they broke their monopoly on power and resources, as governor i insisted on competition and basic fairness to end the control on our state and return it to the people. applause i thought to bring about the largest private sector Infrastructure Project in north American History, and wouldnt that deal was struck we began and nearly 40 billion dollar gas pipeline to help lead america to energy independence. That pipeline, when the less suction is lead and the votes are opened will lead america one step further away from dependence on dangerous foreign powers that dont have our interests at heart. The stakes for our nation could not be higher, when hurricane strikes in the gulf of mexico this country should not be so dependent on imported oil that were forced to drop from our Strategic Petroleum reserve, and families cant grow through more and more of their paychecks on gas and heating oil. With russia wanting to control a vital pipeline on the caucuses and to divide and intimidate our european allies by using energy as a weapon, we cannot leave ourselves at the mercy of foreign suppliers. applause to confront the threat that iran might seek to cut off nearly a fifth of the Worlds Energy supplies, where the terrorists might strike again or that venezuela might shut off its Oil Discoveries and delivery of that source. Americans we need to produce more of our own oil and gas. And take it from a gal who knows the north slope of alaska, weve got lots of both. applause our opponents say again and again that drilling wont solve americas problems as if we do know that already. The fact that drilling though wont solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all. Starting in january in a palin making we can build more pipelines create new clean coal and move forward on solar, wind geothermal and other alternative sources im clapping hot. We need american sources for resources. We need American Energy brought to you by American Ingenuity produced by American Workers clapping . Sure now ive noticed a pattern with our opponent to maybe you have to. Weve all heard his dramatic speeches before devoted followers. There is much to like anna meier about our opponents but listening to him speak its easy to forget that this is a man who was authored to memoirs but not an even major law or reform. The talk clapping this is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars america is fighting never use the word victory except when hes talking about his own campaign. clapping but when the crowd of red as passed, when the roar of the crowd fades away, when the stadium lights go out and those styrofoam columns or hall back to some studio lot, clapping when he does what exactly our opponents plan . What does he seek to accomplish after hes done turning back the waters and healing the planet . The answer, the answer is to make giver government bigger and take more of a money and give you more orders from washington, and to reduce the strength of america in a dangerous world. America needs more energy, our opponent is against producing it. Victory in iraq has finally insight and he wants to forfeit. Terrorist states are seeking Nuclear Weapons without delay, he wants to meet them without preconditions. Alqaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on america and hes worried that someone wont read them their rights. clapping government is too big, Congress Spends too much money, he promises more. Taxes are too high and he wants to raise them. As tax increases are the fine print in his economic plan and let me be specific, the democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes and raise payroll taxes and raise Investment Income taxes and raise the death tax and raise business taxes and increase the tax burden on the American People buy hundreds of billions of dollars. My sister heather and her husband, they just built a service station is now open for business. Like millions of others that run small businesses. clapping how are they going to be better off if taxes go up . Or maybe you are trying to keep a job at a plants in michigan or in ohio or youre trying to create jobs from pennsylvania or west virginia. Trying to keep a small farm and the family right here in minnesota. How are you going to be better off if our opponent adds a massive tax burden to the American Economy . Here is how i look at the choice americans face in this election. 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. clapping they are the ones whose names appears on laws and landmark reforms, not just on buttons and banners are a self designed president ial seals. Among politicians, there is the idealism of high throne speech making in which crowds are sternly cement to support great things and then there is the idealism of leaders like john mccain who actually do great things. They are the ones who were good for more than talk, the ones that weve always been able to count on to serve and defend america. Senator mccains record of actual achievements and reform helps explain why so many special interests and lobbyists and comfortable Committee Chairman in congress have fought the prospect of the mccain presidency. From the primary election of 2000 to this very day, our nominee does not run with the washington heard. Hes a man whos there to serve his country and not just his party, a leader who is not looking for a fight but sure isnt afraid of one either. clapping ,. ,. ,. clapping clearly, or what the majority leader was driving at is that he cannot stand up to john mccain and that is only a, thats only one more reason to take the maverick out of the senate and put him in the white house. clapping by fellow citizens, the american presidency is not supposed to be a journey of personal discovery. laughter this world of threats and dangers, has not just a community and it does does just doesnt need an organizer. And though both senator obama and senator biden have been going on lately about how they are always fighting for you, let us face the matter squarely. There is only one man in this election who was ever really fought for you. There is only one man in this election who was ever really fought for you in places where winning means survival and defeat means death. And that man is john mccain. clapping you, know in our day, politicians have readily shared much less retails. Then the nightmare world in which this man and others equally brave served and suffered for their country. Its a long way from the fear and pain and squalor of a six by four cell in hanoi to the hat oval office. But, if senator mccain is elected president , that is the journey he will have made. Its the journey of an upright and honorable man. The kind of fellow whose name you will find on warmer morials and small towns across this great country. Only he was among those who came home to the most powerful office on earth. He would bring the compassion of whats once been having powerless, the wisdom that comes even to the captives by the grace of god. The special confidence of those who have seen evil and have seen how evil is overcome. clapping a fellow prisoner of war, a man named tom moe of lancaster, ohio clapping , recalls looking through a pinhole in his cell door as Lieutenant Commander john mccain was led down the hallway by the guards day after day and the story is told that when mccain shuffled back from torturous interrogations, he would turn towards most or any flash a grand and a thumbs up as if to say, were gonna pull through this. My fellow americans, that is the kind of man America Needs to see is through the next four years. clapping for a season a gifted speaker can inspire with his words but for a lifetime john mccain has inspired with his deeds. If character is the measure in this election and hope the theme, and change the goal we share, then i ask you to join our cause. Join our cause and help america elect a great man as the next president of the United States. Thank you and god bless america. clapping thank you. clapping dont you think we made the right choice for the next Vice President of the United States . clapping what a beautiful family . clapping the president s. Available in paperback, hardcover and ebook. From public affairs, presents biographies of every president. Inspired