Zell Miller’s speech was superb, which is why it’s the subject of concern by the Kerry campaign and their media friends, and the focus of much delight by the alternative media. I spent the morning reading several of Reagan’s past speeches, including several I personally heard hinm deliver. Despite suggestions to the contrary, I remembered him landing blow after blow against Carter, mentioning him by name and blasting his policies. And that’s what he did. It’s impossible to know whether Miller’s speech will influence any segment of the electorate, or whether any speech other than the president’s really matters in the end — including Schwarzenegger’s superb speech. But Miller’s style is not only typical of politicians in the south (which I’ve come to learn, having married an Alabaman), but of a long tradition of convention speeches.