If Senator John McCain gets elected President next year, forget about being close to Russia... that is, unless there's a regime change there: Putin is supposed to leave office at the same time as Bush... unless he unilaterally decides to stay! Anyway, I'm sure the Russian government got the message after McCain's town hall meeting earlier this week, hosted by the Churchill Club. There the presidential hopeful addressed the issue of personal diplomacy saying that it is "the most over rated aspect of international relations" and rebuffed President Bush's attempt to create a close relationship with Russian President Putin.

"Putin is not acting as a Jeffersonian democrat. We all know that Putin is creating us trouble in many parts of the world... And when I looked at Putin's eyes I saw 3 letters: a 'K', a 'G' and a 'B'", said McCain.