Special Report: U.S. presidential election 2008 

    SAINT PAUL, the United States, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Senator John McCain on Thursday formally accepted the Republican Party's nomination for president in a prime-time speech in which he touted himself as a reformer, problem solver and a patriot.

    "Let me offer an advance warning to the old, big spending, do nothing, me first, country second Washington crowd: change is coming," McCain said in the nationally-televised speech at the 39th Republican National Convention.

    The 72-year old senator said that he was a problem solver with a solid record, snubbing his Democratic rival Barack Obama as someone who does nothing.

    "Again and again, I have worked with members of both parties to fix problems that need to be fixed. That is 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.

    McCain, who served five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, also portrayed himself as a patriot. He said he fell in love with his country "for its decency, for its faith in the wisdom, justice and goodness of its people."

    As to public policies, McCain said he was committed to a strongdefense, lower taxes and the reform of the current American education system.

    He said when he becomes president, he is going to embark on the most ambitious national projects in decades to tackle the energy issue on every front. "We will produce more energy at home. We will drill new wells offshore, and we will drill them now," the senator said, adding that the projects will create "millions of new jobs."

    The four-term senator from Arizona, who had run a roller-coaster campaign in the party primary, clinched his nomination after an hour-long roll call of state delegations at the convention on Wednesday night.

    His acceptance speech on Thursday is widely believed to be critical for him to jumpstart his campaign in the next two months for the White House with his running mate Sarah Palin, a first-term governor of Alaska little known before her prime-time address to the convention Wednesday night.

    In a testimony to the importance of McCain's speech on Thursday, convention organizers modified the podium used for the first three nights of the gathering to enable the senator to deliver his acceptance speech from the center of the Xcel Energy Center in downtown Saint Paul.

    The new podium is a reflection of the town-hall style that has been a hallmark of McCain's campaign and enables the senator to directly interact with his audiences.

    After McCain's speech, the convention, many of whose programs have been truncated due to Hurricane Gustav, was concluded with floor demonstration and balloon drops.