BUSH AND KERRY IN ROBERT KAPLAN'S WORLD

I haven't blogged for the past couple days because I've been working on an ambitious new column for my website. It contrasts Bush and Kerry's foreign policy in terms of the legend of Siddhartha. Let's call it the Buddhist case for George W. Bush. :)

In other news, Putin endorses Bush; or at any rate, he thinks it's "obvious" that terrorists in Iraq are targeting Bush and that a Bush defeat would be a major setback in the fight against terror. This despite reiterating his opposition to the war in Iraq. Fascinating. I guess, as an old KGB spook, he would be the expert on how agents of totalitarian ideologies size up democratic leaders and seek to demoralize democratic countries. In case you missed it, Gallup is reporting an 8-point Bush lead! This poll is an outlier, but all the polls show a Bush lead of various sizes lately. But Kerry is doing well in the swing states, with the result that he's as close in the electoral college projection as he's been in weeks.

Events in Iraq are moving in the right direction. I think Bush will win there. Even Kerry might.