Word Watch: Republicans for "Peace"

The signs have been distributed all across the convention floor: "Peace" they say, hundreds of them, as if this was still 1968 and Eugene McCarthy still had a chance. And upstairs, in the convention kitsch shop, they are selling tie-dye "John McCain 2008" buttons. A little bit of conservative irony, and a whole lot of tactical messaging. Republicans are about to announce to the nation that they are the party of peace. The betting money is that McCain will not go so far tonight as to endorse Dennis Kucinich's plan to christen a new "Department of Peace."

UPDATE: "John is a leader committed to peace," Mel Martinez just said from the podium. It's a theme.

UPDATE: Richard Nixon was also big on "Peace," as in "Peace, Economy, Prosperity." See here.