LOS ANGELES -- Undoubtedly, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter's red-carpet reception in Cuba rubbed President George W. Bush the wrong way.
It's not just because Carter is a leading member of the opposition party, or that Bush would rather have made such a trip himself. After all, if America can be friends with China and Saudi Arabia -- not to mention the suddenly pivotal Central Asian states -- why not with Cuba?
What's really bothering Bush is that Carter doesn't have to run for re-election, and Bush, of course, does. So the essential difference between a place like repressive Uzbekistan and a place like repressive Cuba is Florida.