John Kerry may not have a lock on the U.S. electorate, but apparently he's won over the mighty overseas. Just ask him: "I've met with foreign leaders who can't go out and say this publicly, but, boy, they look at you and say: 'You've got to win this.' "

But Kerry won't say who these leaders are, and he doesn't like being asked. Last week at a forum, he dismissed one voter's question, saying, "That's none of your business." All week his campaign dismissed the issue, saying the names weren't important.

The Kerry campaign later explained this reluctance by saying he doesn't want to make President Bush's dealings with other nations more difficult. How considerate.

More likely, there's nothing to reveal. A Washington Times check of State Department records shows Kerry hasn't been on any official visits out the country in two years, and that his domestic travel schedule since the start of 2003 shows only one occasion when Kerry was even in the same city as a visiting foreign leader.

Several foreign leaders, including Germany's Gerhard Schroeder, have denied even talking to Kerry, let alone "endorsing" him.

Poetic license

When former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone abandoned his Parliament re-election bid, he composed a haiku - the traditional 5-7-5-syllable poem - for the occasion:

With dusk yet to come

Cicada persists in song

While it still has life

Thinking this a grand gesture, the Wall Street Journal's OpinionJournal site (www.opinionjournal.com) decided to write a "Bye-ku" as each Democratic hopeful dropped out, starting with Bob ("Who's He?") Graham:

9:50 p.m.:

Apply scalp medication

Drop out of the race

Well, OJ has penned a nearly complete set, highlighted by odes to Joe Lieberman:

Butterfly ballots

and Jews for Buchanan can't

explain this goring

and Howard Dean:

He raged and he screamed

then lingered long enough to

end with a whimper

As we said, nearly complete. OJ thought it would be saying "Bye-ku" to John Kerry by now, but it hasn't worked out that way - yet. If you'd like a head start, here is OJ's hint: "Served in Vietnam" contains five syllables.