Vladimir's dream

"A new poll shows that Hillary Clinton is only six points ahead of Bernie Sanders. Today a very confident Hillary said, 'Oh, please. Like I'm going to lose the Democratic nomination to a left-wing senator nobody's ever heard of?'" –Conan O"Brien

The October surprise to end all October surprises  
 Filed under "Hey, it could happen".

"There may be more than one surprise in the works this year, given the dismal remaining candidates in the U.S. presidential race.  But the true game-changer could come from an unexpected source: Vlad Putin, the chief mourner of the passing of the Soviet Union.

"In Putin's scheme for a world where Russia is again a superpower, there has to be one favorite among the current finalists still in the race.  Deep down, Bernie may well be his soul mate, but Putin knows there is little he can do to move Comrade Bernie up in the delegate count, and he could do considerable harm by openly endorsing him.

"He knows Hillary, and the best he can expect from her victory is same-old, same-old – too slow and clumsy to get out of his way in re-establishing Russian dominance of Europe and beyond.  After all, Putin is getting up in years.  Before he replaced Hillary's reset button to work as his toilet-flusher as a reminder of her naiveté, he used it as a map-pointer to shift his troops to Crimea and Eastern Ukraine.

"To Putin, Donald Trump is a surprise and not necessarily the negative buffoon he was expecting.  What is not to like if he will dismantle NATO as promised? " . . .