St. Paul, Minn. - John McCain's 10-year climb from his desk in the Senate to his party's presidential ticket will top out this evening at an arena in Minnesota.
McCain, who was formally nominated last night, has memorably addressed national conventions since Ronald Reagan's presidency. His moving, patriotic speech nominating Bob Dole in 1996 helped mark McCain as a rising Republican star.
But the stakes are higher than ever. McCain is trying to catch Barack Obama in the polls. At a late-starting convention, delayed by Monday's hurricane, he has been buffeted by questions about his running mate and how he chose her.
Republican politicians and strategists, and independent analysts, identified five big things McCain should be shooting for when he steps onstage, sometime after 10 p.m.
Sharpen the contrast
McCain should draw sharp lines of difference with his Democratic opponent over experience in government, expertise in international and military matters, and tax-and-spend policies.
McCain "has to come across as a positive leader for the future, even while delineating sharply the differences between him and Obama on issues," said Vin Weber, a Republican strategist and former Minnesota congressman.
Among the topics that should work to McCain's advantage: drilling for more oil, keeping taxes low and reducing the growth of government spending.
McCain had his best run against Obama in the six weeks before the conventions. He attacked his rival with ads that derided the Democrat as a celebrity interested more in playing on a world stage than in dealing with the problems of ordinary Americans.
Draw a crowd
Voter interest in the 2008 campaign exceeds that of recent elections, and convention ratings have been off the charts (for a political event).
McCain, though, has tough acts to follow - Obama and Sarah Palin.
Historically, Democratic conventions draw more viewers (though President Bush's acceptance speech in 2004 was seen by more people than Democrat John Kerry's).
Last week, Democrats averaged more than 30 million prime-time viewers a night over the four days of their convention.
The audience was larger than that on the first night of this week's Republican convention, but television was covering Hurricane Gustav. The convention program had been canceled.
Obama racked up a TV audience of more than 40 million last Thursday, an all-time high for a convention speech.
