I've been a fan of former Georgia Senator Zell Miller since early 2003, when I posted my first in this long running series of notes and explanations for my assessment of him. This is the seventeenth in a series that began in March of that year.

I wrote then that the list of acceptable Democrats was admittedly a short one, but I provided a list of reasons why Miller rated his status as our favorite. I pointed to the terrific Wall Street Journal column that he had recently published ("Mr. Moonves, call off your hillbilly hunt"). The piece made me reflect that I had liked everything I've read by and about Senator Miller.

I found more reasons to like him when I took a look at his incredible (now removed) Web site. First, Senator Miller featured his support of the president's proposed tax cut right from the git-go on his home page, with what appeared to be his trademark good humor: "Just as that first tax cut passed in 2001 with bipartisan support, I have no doubt the same will happen with this one. As the line in that old hymn says, when the roll is called up yonder on the President’s tax cut, I will not be the only Democrat voting for it, I guarantee it."

Second, the guy has an awesome life story. The highlight: "Miller's passions are education, history, baseball and music. He is a walking baseball encyclopedia who is equally at home at the Grand Ol' Opry or Symphony Hall. When he learned that the classical music he loves could help foster development in newborns, he distributed classical music CDs to parents of newborns in a nationally acclaimed program called 'Beethoven for Babies.' He has written five books, including 'Corps Values: Everything You Need To Know I Learned in the Marines' about how his three-year enlistment in the Marines turned his life around as a young man in the 1950s."

Third, the guy has good taste in people. His photo gallery included shots with the following "good people": Billy Graham, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Isaac Hayes, Barbara Mandrell, Dolly Parton, Little Richard, "James Brown, the godfather of soul," Emmylou Harris, and Dale Earnhardt. Above is the photo of Senator Miller with Earnhardt from the mid-1990s.

Fourth, the guy has read enough books to have ten favorites. And they're good ones too, substantial books like A Stillness at Appomattox and Lonesome Dove, not The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

In anticipation of Senator Miller's keynote speech at the Republican Convention last September, NRO posted John Miller's interview with Senator Miller: "Raising Zell." Quotable quote:

NRO: Why aren't there more Zell Millers in the Democratic party?

MILLER: The Democratic tent has shrunk to the size of a dunce cap. There's no room for conservatives like me. We used to have moderates and conservatives in the party. Then they ran us all out.

One more:

NRO: Cynthia McKinney, the former congresswoman, has reemerged in Georgia as the Democratic nominee in Georgia' 4th congressional district.

MILLER: Yes, she has.

NRO: Any thoughts on that?

MILLER: They're not printable.

And here's the quote that necessitated part 15 of our continuing series on Senator Miller:

NRO: Who will win the presidential election?

MILLER: Bush is going to win and it will be wider than we think right now. As more and more people turn on this election, George W. Bush is going to look better and better and his opponent is going to look weaker and weaker. Who is it we feel more secure with in the White House? The answer to that is President Bush. I have never been more proud to support a president. I admire his leadership and character. I'm glad to have lived long enough to vote for a person like him.

Last October the Washington Times carried Senator Miller's terrific column, necessitating the sixteenth in our series of posts dedicated to Senator Miller: "Iwo Jima, if covered by media today."

Tonight RealClearPolitics has posted "A letter to Chris Matthews" by Cecil Stanton, requiring this latest installment in our series:

Mr. Chris Matthews
Host, MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews
400 North Capitol Street, Suite 850
Washington, DC 20001

Dear Chris,

We understand that you will be airing tonight on Hardball, the famous segment from the Republican National Convention in which former Senator Zell Miller challenged you to a duel. It was a dramatic moment in television and we’re so pleased that you have been able to use the segment as a promo to boost the show’s ratings for the last 9 months.

We are even more pleased that you will be playing it again tonight as it will be a great publicity hit for Senator Miller’s new book A Deficit of Decency.

The only question is, in Senator Miller’s absence tonight, will you tell the whole story as to why he was angry with your comments? In chapter 6 (Hardball Huff) of A Deficit of Decency, Zell explains that the reason he challenged you is that before he came on the set you claimed he was an “old time seggy.”

Will you renounce your baseless claim that Senator Miller is a segregationist?

As you may know, following Senator Miller’s challenge, CNBC took and online poll in which they asked who would win the duel. You, of course, received 14% of the vote while Senator Miller garnered 86%.

We wonder if that will be part of the discussion tonight.

Sincerely,
Cecil Staton
President
Stroud and Hall Publishers

Check out the letter as posted on RCP for links to the original Hardball transcript and to the site for Senator Miller's new book.