News Logging

IN ACCEPTING the Republican nomination for president last night, John McCain confronted a different challenge from Democrat Barack Obama's test in Denver last week. His task was not to introduce himself to the American people or to assure them that he has the necessary experience. Rather, Mr. McCain faced the unusual situation of distancing himself from the Republican president he hopes to succeed and, to some extent, from the party whose nomination he was accepting. In doing so, Mr. McCain offered a significantly different rationale than the one he presented in launching his candidacy 17 months ago. He subordinated what had been his major theme -- leading America in "a global struggle with violent extremists who despise us" -- to one that hearkened more to the John McCain of the 2000 primary campaign: a renegade fighter for the bread-and-butter concerns of ordinary Americans against "the old big-spending, do-nothing, me-first, country-second Washington crowd." Mr. McCain mentioned Iraq only briefly, and President Bush even less. He warned of the continuing threat of al-Qaeda, but he devoted more time to Russian aggression against "the brave people of Georgia," even while assuring voters that they "need not fear a return of the Cold War" in a McCain administration. But Mr. McCain's recalibrated message, reinforced and perhaps required by his choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate, focused much more on dealing with the nation's domestic woes. Being a "maverick," Mr. McCain said, means that "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."