Cindy McCain's GOP convention speech

You can trust his hand at the wheel.

But you know what, I've always thought it's a good idea to have a woman's hand on the wheel as well.

So how about Governor Sarah Palin!

John has picked a reform-minded ... hockey-mommin' ... basketball shootin' ... moose huntin' ... fly-fishin' ... pistol-packing ... mother of five for vice president. And as a fellow hockey mom myself and a western conservative mother, I couldn't be prouder that John has shaken things up as he usually does!

No one can do the job alone. And that's why I'm glad John will have Governor Palin by his side.

We all to have work together ... build consensus - the way John has done all his life.

His leadership inspires and empowers ... and places ultimate success in all our hands.

Ronald Reagan was fond of saying, "with freedom goes responsibility -- a responsibility that can only be met by the individual himself."

I have been witness to great service and sacrifice - to lives lived with humility and grace.

In World War II, my father's B-17 was shot down three times. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

But he was quiet about that... and never claimed to have done more than his small share.

Just like my husband.

I think John was a hero in Vietnam.

But he thinks it was just his turn.

Our son, Jack, will graduate from the United States Naval Academy next year - fourth generation - ready to do his service.

And our son Jimmy - a lance corporal in the Marine Corps - served honorably in Iraq ... as hundreds of thousands of other young men and women just like him are doing for America and freedom everywhere.

The stakes were never more clear to me, than the morning I watched my son Jimmy strap on his weapons and board a bus headed for harm's way.

I was born and raised in the American West and will always see the world through the prism of its values.

My Father was a true "Western Gentleman."

He rose from hardscrabble roots to realize the American dream.

With only a few borrowed dollars in his pocket, a strong back and a can-do spirit, he built a great life for his family.

His handshake was his solemn oath. He looked you straight in the eye and he always believed the best of you unless you gave him good cause not to.

Modest and good-natured, he had deep roots in our American soil.

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