THOUGHTS ON THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION:

KERRY IS AN UNARMED MAN IN A BATTLE OF MORAL PRINCIPLE:

The first genuine moral relativist to run for president, John Kerry doesn't believe in truth enough to refrain from fraudulent campaign claims; he doesn't believe in democracy enough to promote it abroad. In six months of campaigning, he has yet to explain how any one of his positions is derived from a moral principle.

But it takes moral principle to beat moral principle. In debate, a moral relativist can have no safe position on any issue. When positions conflict, the principled man can present persuasive and inspiring moral arguments, while the relativist can only assert his position. When the relativist's position is challenged, he is likely to abandon his position for another (after all, one position is as good as another); this flip-flopping discredits him. The relativist therefore will often seek shelter from challenge by adopting his opponent's position. But since the principled man can present a moral case for his position, while the relativist cannot, the relativist only makes it appear that the principled man has, in fact, led and won the debate, brought his opponent around to his side, and united political factions. The principled man is shown to be a leader, while the relativist has demoralized his natural supporters.

Bush's best strategy is to enhance this natural dynamic: When Kerry agrees with him, thank him for supporting Bush's position and cite it as an example of Bush's success uniting the country. When Kerry disagrees, challenge him hard to expose the lack of a moral foundation for Kerry's views and push him into flip-flops. When Kerry flip-flops, mock him.

This campaign is going to be an opportunity to rout not only John Kerry, but also liberal relativism. Please, President Bush - go for the jugular.

"SQUEEZE THE NETWORKS" SQUEEZED CHENEY:

Zell got through his speech quickly, driven by anger and perhaps also because his speech may have been shortened at the last minute, as Tacitus reported at RedState. I think Cheney ended up needing to stretch his speech by at least five minutes to achieve the "squeeze out the network commentators" strategy. The many long pauses for applause made his speech a little boring. The first sign of imperfect organization in the convention.