Even as workers were sweeping up the confetti from the floor of New York's Madison Square Garden, bloggers who covered the Republican National Convention this week were already trying to look ahead. Jay Rosen on PressThink (journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/) speculated that as the next election cycle rolls around, the two parties may negotiate deals for exclusive TV coverage of their 2008 conventions on a single network, much like the Olympics or other major sporting events.

Among the facts Rosen cited: Fox News' GOP convention ratings topped all competitors, including the big broadcast networks; CNN set a precedent by negotiating a deal for a special broadcast platform at the Democratic convention. "The ratings would be far higher for a single network," Rosen wrote. "Promotion would be simpler. Cooperation between the party and the network carrier would suddenly be 'okay,' since both would want to put on the best event possible. The suits at ABC, NBC and CBS would not to have to answer questions about the meager hours they plan to broadcast the thing. And the party bosses would like dealing with a single partner."

The argument against it is that conventions are news events that all media outlets have a right to cover, but as Rosen put it, "the very premise of (conventions as) a 'news event' is so strained it may just collapse."

• Hot Zells at 20 paces: During an on-air confrontation Wednesday night between Sen. Zell Miller, D-Ga., and Chris Matthews of MSNBC's Hardball, Miller wished aloud that we still lived in an era where you could challenge an opponent to a duel. Maybe he'll get his chance. The blogs are reporting that Thursday night at a reception hosted by the conservative Club for Growth for Miller, Herman Cain, an African-American Republican from Georgia who nearly won his party's nomination for the retiring Miller's seat, presented the senator with a pair of authentic 18th-century dueling pistols.

• From blog to book: Convention blogger and Hollywood novelist/screenwriter Roger L. Simon (Scenes from a Mall, The Big Fix) couldn't help but see the scripted drama in this week's event: "American political conventions have begun to resemble high-tech versions of medieval passion plays." Simon also writes that because of this blogging experience (rogerlsimon.com), he's going to write his first non-fiction work, "a kind of political memoir of the Hollywood left." At least he'll never run out of source material.

• Instant replay: For Internet users who want to catch up with any convention speeches they missed, the major ones are available online (video and text) on www.gopconvention.com. Also, Time Warner Cable offersfree on-demand replays of key speeches for two weeks on its Channel 1000.

This fall, we'll use this space on occasion to look at blogs and other political sites. Send suggestions to Ray Cooklis at rcooklis@enquirer.com.