ST. PAUL, Minn. - He didn’t have Mitt Romney’s movie star good looks or his bank account. He didn’t have Rudy Giuliani’s glib charm with an overlay of 9/11 heroism. He didn’t even have Mike Huckabee’s easy manner and folksy appeal.

But tonight John McCain, the GOP’s most improbable nominee, a man who has spent as much time locked in mortal combat with his own party regulars as with opposition Democrats, will stand at the podium and accept their nomination for president.