When Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain accepted his party’s nomination Thursday evening, supporters were riding high on two days of inspiring speeches.

“The energy is so great right now,” said Corky Coker, co-chairman of Sen. McCain’s local campaign effort. “After Gov. (and vice presidential nominee Sarah) Palin, Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson spoke, the energy among the Republican Party has just exploded.”

Sen. McCain, a POW-turned-political rebel, vowed Thursday night to vanquish the “constant partisan rancor” plaguing the nation as he launched his fall campaign for the White House. “Change is coming” to Washington, he promised listeners at the Republican National Convention.

Staff Photo by John Rawlston

“I will reach out my hand to anyone to help me get this country moving again,” Sen. McCain said. “I have that record and the scars to prove it. Senator Obama does not,” he said of his rival for the White House, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

Republicans concluded their four-day convention Thursday night with Sen. McCain, R-Ariz., accepting the party’s nomination to a raucous reception at the XCel Center.

Sen. McCain talked about the five years he spent in a North Vietnamese prison.

“I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else’s,” he said. “I was never the same again. I wasn’t my own man anymore. I was my country’s.”

In Chattanooga, McCain supporters used a convention closing-night speech party to announce the opening of a Hamilton County McCain-Palin headquarters. About 130 supporters turned out for the event at the One Park Place building off Lee Highway. Supporters heard convention-floor phone calls from U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp and Tennessee Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey.

Ashley Nelson, a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sophomore and president of the UTC College Republicans, said the party shouldn’t try to change its values to court younger voters like herself. Instead, they should stick with what’s worked in the past, she said.

“I think (Republicans) need to stay how they are. I believe in the Grand Old Party and traditional values. I don’t think they should change anything to get a vote. I think we should just be ourselves,” said Miss Nelson, a 19-year-old native of Clarksville, Tenn.

Chattanooga Republicans said they were cheered by Ms. Palin’s rousing speech Wednesday in which she touted smaller government, lower taxes and anti-abortion views.

Local campaigners have had trouble keeping up with demand for signs, buttons and bumper stickers since Ms. Palin’s speech, said Ray Evans of East Ridge.

“That speech gave McCain the boost he needed not only in the South but everywhere else,” said Mr. Evans, a retired political pollster who attended the speech party. “Interest has particularly picked up over the last few days. It’s in a frenzied mode right now.”

Delegates react

Her voice hoarse from cheering all week at the Republican National Convention, Tennessee delegate Lauren Fairbanks said she is returning from Minneapolis inspired and energized by the presidential ticket of Sen. McCain and Sarah Palin.

“I think we have such a wonderful team with McCain and Palin,” said Ms. Fairbanks, 19, a Chattanooga native and freshman at Middle Tennessee State University. “I don’t think it could be any better. They’re both class acts, and looking back on our history, we’ve had such great Christian leaders. I don’t think anything can stop them.”

Chattanooga-area delegates said Sen. McCain and Alaska Gov. Palin have solid conservative credentials and will be able to present themselves as government reformers.

Georgia state Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, said the Republican ticket is able to present a drastic contrast from the Democratic ticket of Sen. Obama and Joe Biden.

“I think Sen. McCain hit the ball out of the park,” said Sen. Mullis, who was attending his first convention. “He’s going to shake up Washington. He’s going to improve the lives of Americans by reducing the size of government and not raising taxes, as Obama has proposed.”

Gray Sasser, chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party, said Democrats have been just as energized to oppose the McCain-Palin ticket and are mobilizing efforts to spread Sen. Obama’s message of change and unity.

“John McCain started out this campaign saying he was going to represent change from business as usual from the Republican Party,” Mr. Sasser said. “But the Republican Party is campaigning again on the record of George Bush, Dick Cheney and Karl Rove, and McCain has adopted the same divisive rhetoric.”

Rep. Wamp, R-Tenn., said that with the presidential race expected to be tight, the Republican ticket should target “Reagan Democrats” in the Midwest who may be uncomfortable with the more liberal Democratic ticket of Sens. Obama and Biden.

“Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, those are swing states, and frankly, Obama did not do so good in his primary in those states,” Rep. Wamp said. “There’s a lot of potential for the McCain-Palin ticket in the middle of the country.”

Ms. Fairbanks, who said she was drawn to Sen. McCain early in the campaign because of his national defense background and Christian values, said she will value the connections she made during the convention.

“It’s been an honor being able to meet these politicians who run our country and make decisions that affect our lives,” she said. “It’s definitely opened my eyes and made me look at government in a way I never had before. I’d be interested someday in running for office or being involved in politics.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.