To my good friend and great Republican, Dick Nixon, and your charming wife, Pat; my running mate and that wonderful Republican who has served us well for so long, Bill Miller and his wife, Stephanie; to Thurston Morton who has done such a commendable job in chairmaning this Convention; to Mr. Herbert Hoover, who I hope is watching; and to that great American and his wife, General and Mrs. Eisenhower; to my own wife, my family, and to all of my fellow Republicans here assembled, and Americans across this great Nation.

From this moment, united and determined, we will go forward together, dedicated to the ultimate and undeniable greatness of the whole man. Together we will win.

I accept your nomination with a deep sense of humility. I accept, too, the responsibility that goes with it, and I seek your continued help and your continued guidance. My fellow Republicans, our cause is too great for any man to feel worthy of it. Our task would be too great for any man, did he not have with him the heart and the hands of this great Republican Party, and I promise you tonight that every fiber of my being is consecrated to our cause; that nothing shall be lacking from the struggle that can be brought to it by enthusiasm, by devotion, and plain hard work. In this world no person, no party can guarantee anything, but what we can do and what we shall do is to deserve victory, and victory will be ours. (1-8)

It's like it was fill-in-the-blank time at the speechwriting factory:

Insert basic acceptance speech template…

Step One: Thank everyone and their neighbor's dog for their support.
Step Two: Pledge unity and victory.
Step Three: Express humility, devotion to the cause, blah blah… and mention victory again.

Yawn.

Still, Goldwater knew he was going to be a controversial candidate and didn't represent the views of most of his party. So what better way to begin the speech than complimenting the rock stars of the party like Eisenhower and Nixon, the last Republican prez and VP, and promising to uphold Republican values, move forward in unity, etc.

The intro may be vanilla, but the fireworks start as soon as the pleasantries are out of the way.