John McCain gave the most important speech of his eventful life as he accepted the Republican nomination for the presidency of the United States.

His focus was simple—he and Sarah Palin will take back Washington, D.C. They will restore the capital city to the people of the United States, taking it away from the entrenched political parties (Republican and Democratic) and interests that have hijacked the government.

Once in office, McCain will lower taxes so that more money stays in our pockets, reduce regulations so that our economy can be more nimble and we can be free to make decisions about our lives, and work toward energy independence.

It was as if Ronald Reagan had returned to the Republican convention hall. McCain spoke as the outsider coming to town to clean up the mess.

The message was clearly geared to undecided voters watching on television. Polling has consistently shown that non-affiliated voters feel that D.C. is a morass of gridlock and corruption. Those who self-identify as Rs or Ds feel that the solution to D.C. gridlock is to have their party win big in elections. Non-affiliated voters just want some version of effective government to occur when lawmakers meet. McCain’s message was for them.

While not a spectacular speech, it was a solid piece of work. McCain is very effective in more unstructured settings, e.g. town hall meetings or talk shows. When he gives formal speeches, his style is often wooden—he seems embarrassed by the words coming out of his mouth. Thursday night he was comfortable with the words, and his use of the television camera was strong. He was clearly connecting with viewers.

However, there was an ideological balancing act that will be interesting to watch as the campaign shifts into high gear. McCain was clear that the denizens of D.C. are the problem. They need to be forcefully reminded that they do the people’s work. This is a version of Reagan’s assertion that government is the problem, not the solution.

But at the same time, McCain was proposing government as the solution for many issues. Incentives for ways to move toward energy independence, laws to protect and help those harmed in the economic downturn, and an activist foreign policy.

This was not Reagan’s idea of limited government. This is McCain’s idea about effective government. McCain invoked Lincoln, Roosevelt (Teddy, not Franklin), and Reagan, but his ideas seem to be closer to Roosevelt’s government activism.

The most moving part of the speech was McCain’s story of his time as a POW in Hanoi. We had heard the story throughout the convention, usually delivered in serious tones with somber music in the background. McCain delivered the story in his own plainspoken style. The most important element for him was not the suffering (the “living in a box” as it was put in the over-the-top video that introduced McCain), but the perspective his captivity gave him of his country. This was where his commitment to public service was born. His love for the United States, and his appreciation of what it did for its citizens, deepened and matured during those five and a half years.

So, now the Republicans and Democrats have given us their advertising about what they want to see the campaign conversation be about. McCain will get some kind of small post-convention bounce to match Obama’s small post-convention bounce, and then we will know the true starting point of the 2008 race for the presidency.

Since this election looks like it will be relatively close in terms of the popular vote, the real battles will be taking place for electoral votes. That’s what I’ll be paying the closest attention to in the coming weeks.