It's official - both candidates have been formally nominated, and the campaigns are now officially underway.

McCain's speech on the final night of the RNC was pretty much along the lines of what was expected. He is no firebrand of a speaker, but he is an honest and forth-right candidate and his speech showed that. His speech also contained some specific details of his plans; the type of thing critics have been clamoring for. Of course, the details were not too specific, no more specific than anything H. offered in his speech the week before. But he did succeed in laying out the groundwork of what his presidency will be about - country first, non-partisanship, an economy bolstered by low taxes and governmental non-involvement, energy independence by looking at all the options available, and above all, the promise that Americans can be self-reliant because government will get out of their way rather than dictate bureaucratic solutions to personal problems.

The statement of self-reliance is the key to the Republicans' platform. The Democrats believe that government should manage and micro-manage all aspects of our lives. The Republicans believe the government should stay out of the way except where absolutely necessary. It is no secret that dependency on the government fosters more dependency. Mitt Romney was absolutely correct when he said "Dependency is death to initiative, risk-taking and opportunity. It is time to stop the spread of government dependency to fight it like the poison it is!" John McCain recognizes that, and John McCain will preserve and strengthen that ideal.