This is going to be interesting stuff, a Democrat keynoting at the RNC.

1. Future is the key, family more important than party, that's interesting. Bush endorsed.

2. Where's the bipartisanship? The nation is divided because of a manic obsession to bring down the Commander-in-Chief. Strong meat, Zell.

3. Emotial touch: not calling American troops "occupiers". Great allusions to Europe and South Korea. This guy can deliver a speech.

4. Blasting Kerry and Kennedy over the war and peace issue, they have misunderstood almost all US moves to secure national security. Zell is going after them with some hard facts here, the Massachussets senators opposed almost all military equipment that was instrumental in winning in Iraq. They voted against ... against ... This is a full frontal attack on Kerry and Democrats, is Cheney going to be more aggressive than this? Zell is a tough act to follow.

5. Outsourcing security. Kerry is weaker, wobblier than any national figure.

6. Linking back to the future ... Bush knows where we should go.

7. Bush, family and God in one sentence, Zell addresses the President as a good-hearted man with a spine of steel, Zell circles it back to the family and the protection of our families.

8. That's it. A short but very powerful and angry speech. Here's Lynne ...

9. Discussing the family, nothing new here. Here's the Veep ...

10. HE CAN SMILE !

11. Dick's more comfortable banging memos from his bunker and not a great speecher, he has a hard time waiting for the applause, he wants to get on with it ... let's see ... ah, Edwards is getting a jab, easy.

12. Humble family beginnings, modesty, believing the American dream. Education, future of our children ... where's the strong meat? There it is: the tax-cuts ("Reagan proved deficits don't matter", remember?) work!

13. Freedom and security, challenge of our lifetime. Yes.

14. PROTESTOR ON THE FLOOR! Taken away by security .. Dick's unfazed.

15. September 11, end of the carefree 1990s. Awakening to a lethal threat, reference to WMDs. Good link to Nazis and Communists, our enemy is bent on our destruction. We will prevail ...

16. There's something very convincing and pressing in Cheney's voice, it comes at the end of a sentence without raising his voice too much, it works. Bet he uses that in cabinet meetings too, prompting agreement around the table. He's convincing, strong.

17. Saddam, Libya: Bush' approach works. No word on Iran, North Korea though.

18. Tribute to the armed forces, let freedom reign banners ... tribute to the fallen. Cameras zoom in on veterans.

19. A defining moment for the nation, its defense and security. Still no word on Kerry. Cheney is the chief strategist of the Bush team, no doubt, the way he delivers the message is evidence of that. No one else is as crsip and eloquent.

19. Here's Kerry: wanted US troops to deployed only by UN - crowd boos - Kerry was against SDI, against Desert Storm. Kerry doesn't understand how world has changed. Al-Qaeda not impressed with proposed "sensitive war".

20. Without using the word, "pre-empting" falls into whatever means necessary to defend USA. Strong: US will never seek permission slip to defend itself. Cheney is not telling us anything new, he's quietly going through the list of items that need to be underscored.

21. Here are the flip-flops on the floor. Cheney smiles politely but wants to get on with it ...

22. A senator can be wrong for 20 years without consequences to the nation but Presidents cast the deciding vote ...

23. Kerry is indecisive and confuses, the crowd flip-flops again ... now he moves to Bush. Bush speaks plainly, is loyal.

24. The signs are good, even in Massachusetts. If that's true the GOP has nailed this election, but Cheney is making the point: we're confident. I always worry if that can lead to complacency on the part of the voters. Anyway, Cheney continues ...

25. Confidence and road to victory. What a quiet and composed performance. Contrast this with Zell Miller and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Cheney family on stage (where's Mary?) and disappears within seconds. Compare that to Edwards who lingered on stage for an eternity. But, well-done and effective. Even my wife Irene liked it.

26. Look at CNN (20:03 PST), Greenfield, Woodruff and Blitzer are taking on Zell Miller about the facts underpinning his speech. Blitzer suggests Miller's speech was angry, Miller says he isn't and that he's a lifelong Democrat.

CONCLUSION

So this is the first liveblog I've done and it's not as easy as I thought, I've reported more than I have commented which is not what I planned. I'll take that to heart tomorrow when I will liveblog the Bush speech. By the way here's an excellent liveblog of tonight's proceedings.

On the content of the speeches: I don't think Miller was really angry, it was the manner in which the conservative Democrat delivered his speech. In any other democracy in the world you would be booted out of your party for good if you attacked your leader during an election in the way the Senator from Georgia did tonight, but then he's probably a Democrat in name only. And it proves the very federalist nature of US politics, a Georgia Democrat who in Washington can be an unaffiliated conservative. In summary: he deconstructed Kerry without mercy. This speech will not only have an impact, it will be remembered for a long time.

Lynne Cheney 's performance was very short and rightly so: family members shouldn't really perform at conventions as I argued yesterday. Dick Cheney's speech was, again, calm and decisive but surprisingly light on detail. Cheney outlined the course the administration has taken so far after 9/11, the focus on security and freedom with some clear attacks on Kerry. But, I didn't hear anything new on the policy side, not a word on the next steps in the Middle East or how the lessons of the last four years are to be applied in a second Bush term. That's why I felt it was a bit light and then I don't even touch on the absence of domestic issues. Cheney can now depart from the spotlight where he uncomfortably resided for three days, a more detailed vision for the future will likely be discussed by Bush tomorrow night, as it should.