McCain ended his 50-minute speech with a call to arms: He exhorted, "Fight with me. Fight with me," as the crowd's roar of approval drowned out his voice. With music blaring and balloons cascading, McCain stopped to savor the moment, then stepped down from the podium and was swallowed up among the cheering delegates.

For all his talk of reaching across the aisle, McCain got in jabs at Obama. After all, there are only two months until Election Day.

He said Obama would raise taxes, close markets, increase government spending, eliminate jobs. He criticized Obama on energy, health care, and education policies.

The audience was clearly hungry for it: They booed Obama after every criticism, though there were relatively few.

Speechmaking has never been McCain's strong point, and his delivery Thursday clearly paled next to that of his running mate or his Democratic rivals. Pausing after each idea, McCain's tone seemed better suited to a speech in the Senate. Obama, Democratic No. 2 Joe Biden and running mate Sarah Palin had been riveting; McCain offered more of a laundry list.

The delegates didn't seem to mind if their nominee lacked Obama's rhetorical polish.

"This guy has more experience in his little pinkie from speaking in the Senate than Obama will ever have," said Colorado delegate Gabriel Schwartz. "It was a much better speech for what it said and the way he delivered it honestly than some smooth speech from someone who can't deliver."

McCain mostly refrained from the brass-knuckled rhetoric that marked Obama's speech exactly one week earlier.

Perhaps the Republican's sharpest hit came without even a mention of his Democratic rival.

"I'm not running for president because I think I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need," McCain mocked. "My country saved me. My country saved me, and I cannot forget it. And I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help me God."

McCain has cast Obama as a presumptuous candidate, and his campaign has likened the Democrat to a would-be messiah.

The Arizona senator also issued a warning "to the old, big-spending, do-nothing, me-first, country-second Washington crowd: Change is coming." That, too, was an indirect Obama reference. McCain has suggested his Democratic rival puts personal ambition above the country.

In his comments, McCain left it to his audience to connect the dots.

Certainly, McCain's speech wasn't as sharp as Palin's address to the delegates the night before — or a host of other speakers who came before him. Their speeches were filled with biting attacks on Obama and his Democrats.