About 38 million people watched Obama accept the Democratic nomination in front of a crowd of 80,000-plus at Invesco Field in Denver last week. To compete with that, strategists said, McCain will need to give a meatier speech on Thursday that stresses he is a leader with good judgment while Obama is a “celebrity” capable only of lofty but empty rhetoric.

Robert “Mike” Duncan, chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), said in an interview with The Hill on Wednesday that McCain will present a detailed picture of “his vision for America” that will contrast with Obama’s vacuous speech in Denver.

“He was a mile high and an inch deep,” Duncan said of Obama’s speech, echoing the RNC’s appraisal of the Democratic National Convention. “Tell me what he said in that speech.”
Republican strategist Kevin Madden noted that McCain has “never been somebody who has tried to get by on the big theatrical production,” but added the media, and even Democrats, will compare the two men’s speeches.

“People will want to compare it and the theater,” Madden said. “In that regard, expectations are probably high.”

Duncan said the decision to cancel most of convention’s proceedings Monday night because of Hurricane Gustav would not dampen the GOP’s energy, adding that the enthusiasm returned almost immediately after programming returned to its normal schedule.

“You never go wrong doing the right thing,” Duncan said. “We got back on track [Tuesday] night.”

Ultimately, for McCain to be successful, strategists said, he will need to connect to ordinary voters and offer them concrete reasons to vote for him.

“He needs to paint a picture in his speech of what a McCain presidency would look like,” Republican strategist Todd Harris said.

Harris, who worked for McCain in 2000, said the Arizona senator needs to express that a McCain administration would not only change Washington but would move the country away from the policies of the unpopular Bush administration.

Harris also said McCain should use the speech as a platform to hit back at Obama, who lobbed criticism at the Arizona senator during his acceptance speech last week.

“In many ways, this election is still a referendum on Obama,” Harris said. “This will be the biggest megaphone that McCain has had up until this point. He needs to use this to reinforce the message that Obama doesn’t have the experience or the record to back up his rhetoric.”

House Chief Deputy Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.), however, said he doesn’t think McCain needs to attack Obama too forcefully, adding that expectations for McCain aren’t as high because he is more of a known quantity.

“I think the country is comfortable with the notion of McCain being commander in chief,” Cantor said. “He doesn’t need to do much to contrast Obama’s record on national security.”

At least one Democrat, however, was skeptical of whether McCain can pull off a big speech.

“He’s got to pull a Houdini,” Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said of McCain’s Thursday night speech.

“The fact is he’s been in lockstep with George Bush on the issues — the economy and Iraq,” Van Hollen said. He said McCain and running mate Sarah Palin would try to position themselves as the “change ticket,” but cast doubt on their ability to do so.

Van Hollen said he did not think Palin was forcing the Obama campaign to focus more of its attention on women, but acknowledged the Alaska governor has “obviously dominated the news here at the Republican convention.” At the same time, he described her as “an unknown quantity.”

Ian Swanson and Jackie Kucinich contributed to this article.