The Republican National Convention is coming to a television near you. News commentators of the Chris Mathews ilk are going "on location" in New York City so they can cover the event, chockablock full of hum-drum speakers and country music singers. Placard salesmen everywhere are tallying their record-breaking sales. New York police officers are donning their riot gear. And I wonder …

I wonder if the art of the peaceful protest — pioneered by Gandhi — died with Martin Luther King Jr. Publicly protesting the government is somewhat of a national pastime, and certainly a national right. But today's media makes it ineffective at best, counterproductive at worst. Quick clips of outraged protesters hollering profanities at police officers make for good television but bad politics. Isn't President Bush the person they want to look like an ignorant monster? The only people I see foaming at the mouth this week are protesters.

I wonder if viewers will be hearing references to the 1999 World Trade Organization protests in Seattle. In Seattle, protesters used sensational tactics (i.e. violence) to garner media attention, but in the process diverted attention from their message.

Their methods were so outlandish that Estonia's trade ambassador told some protesters, "I'm a socialist. You people are nuts," as Jonathon Peterson reported on Dec. 1, 1999 in the Los Angeles Times story "Protest Delays Start of World Trade Summit." Hopefully keynote speaker Sen. Zell Miller (D – Ga.) will provide a similar moment at the GOP convention.

I wonder if Miller will just read from his book about the Democratic Party, "A National Party No More." In it he writes, "Each advocacy group has become more important than the sum of the whole. It is a rational party no more. It is a national party no more. So, bang the drum slowly and play the fife lowly, for the sun is setting over a waiting grave."

The retiring Miller, who gave the keynote speech at the 1992 Democratic National Convention, has been on his bridge-burning farewell senatorial tour for some time. He might get some fence sitters to vote for Bush. Or he'll sell some books, which is just as good for someone headed to that post-politician heaven known as the lecture circuit.

I wonder when the Republican Party became our nation's most inclusive party. On the speaking docket are former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, New York Gov. George Pataki, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Sen. John McCain (R – Ariz.). Giuliani and Pataki are pro-gay rights, pro-choicers. Schwarzenegger said the impeachment of President Bill Clinton made him ashamed to be a Republican. Sen. John Kerry (D – Mass) considered McCain as a possible running mate. These guys may never woo the religious right, but neither will Kerry. So who cares?

I wonder if the GOP will suffer from the same foolish political myopia the Democrats did at their convention. Every speaker harped about Kerry's vaunted service in Vietnam, casting it as the linchpin of his campaign. Then some of his fellow swift boat servicemen happily yanked on said linchpin. In retrospect, he should have talked about something else – anything else – in addition to his service in a war that took place over 30 years ago and which he protested upon his return.

Mostly, I wonder what the majority of undecided voters are wondering. When do the debates start?

Yawn.