September 3

President Bush's speech to the Republican convention last night pushed all the right buttons for the party faithful, outlining an amitious programme of domestic policy and a no-holds-barred approach to foreign relations.

The President spoke for over an hour from a raised stage in the centre of the Madison Sqaure Garden auditorium, giving the symbolic impression that he is a man of the people. The particular people he is a man of, however, are very much what John Micklethwaite refers to as the "Right Nation".

How they cheered when maverick Georgia Democrat Zell Miller lambasted John Kerry's senate voting record - never mind that most of his charges were dubious to say the least.

How they cheered every time New York Governor George Pataki called to mind September 11, with the not-so-subtle inference that a Kerry presidency would leave us more vulnerable to terrorism.

For Kerry himself, his newly-revamped campaign team, including former Clinton press secretary Joe Lockhart, had him go on the offensive immediately after Bush's address.

Breaking with tradition by responding immediately after his opponent's convention address, Kerry said: "I'm not going to have my commitment to defend this country questioned by those who refused to serve when they could have and by those who misled America into Iraq."

While in all, this seems to have been a bad week for the Democratic challenger, the polls may yet indicate that given how polarised the nation remains, the President will likely experience not much more of a bounce from his convention - even with its excessive 9/11 trappings - than Kerry received from the Democrats gathering in Boston last month.

Meanwhile, according to CBS News, the Bush campaign is to appoint former secretary of state James Baker as their negotiator on the upcoming debate schedule, with the word that he will press for two, not three, presidential face-offs, and one vice-presidential match-up.

August 31

The opening of the Republican convention found the President on the defensive over seemingly conflicting statements on the winnability of the war on terror.

Particularly important, given that the theme of the convention's opening day was strength and security, with speakers Rudy Giuliani and John McCain helping emphasise the campaign's ongoing connection between the war on terror and the war in Iraq.

The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll shows Bush increasing his lead over John Kerry as the man best qualified to lead the war on terror, and it will be a clear aim of the GOP strategists between now and election day to frame the debate on iraq through the prism of terrorism.

All of this might seem like bad news for John Kerry, despite the poll finding that more than half of potential voters believe the country is on the 'wrong track, but, as Craig Crawford of CQ told C-Span, the Democratic challenger seems to do best when his back's to the wall.

John McCain even took an opportunity to lambast Republicans' favourite focus of disdain, filmmaker Michael Moore, who is covering the convention for USA Today.

Interestingly, Giuliani also had a scheduled meeting on Tuesday morning with the Iowa delegation, while another potential 2008 hopeful, NY governor George Pataki, sat down with the New Hampshire delegation.

Tonight's idea, behind speakers Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger and first lady Laura Bush, is to remind voters that the concept of "compassionate Conservatism" is still alive and well.

The National Business Review has a nice piece on the blogging of the convention, in the wake of the huge hype about convention blogs that came out of the Democrats gathering in Boston, while Cingular Wireless have a pretty cool project going on involving student journalists and moblogging, more of which as the convention progresses.

Finally - back to popular culture, as if we could stay away. The nice Saturday Night Live-type intro video ushering party chairman Ed Gillespie onstage wasn't the first time the party has borrowed from SNL. Remember when attorney-general John Ashcroft used a real speech to borrow from his SNL parody? ("If the return address on your mail reads 'a cave', there's a possibility you might be a terrorist...").

Meanwhile, one of the songs playing inside the Garden as delegates were taking their seats was James Taylor's "You've Got A Friend". Apparently the GOP isn't too worried that Taylor is one of Kerry's biggest boosters and is about to hit the road as part of the Vote For Change tour.

Finally, finally; C-Span's live feed of the opening night showed delegates lining up to enter the Garden, while a band played on the plaza outside. Their slightly unfortunate choice of song? "Chain of Fools".