If you had any doubt as to where the political weight is in the Putin-Medvedev Tandem — or the level of popular support of political developments associated with Medvedev (reset, modernization), the latest polling data leave no doubt:
In response to the question, “Whom would you like to see as a candidate in the Russian presidential election of 2012?” 30% raised their hands for Putin, while only 14% did so for Medvedev.
The best part? Medvedev comes in dead last.
The second candidate? With 21%, “both of them.” Third? With 19%, “neither one,” and with 16% (that’s two more points than Dmitry “Free iPhone” Medvedev), “had difficulty responding.”
via the Levada Center
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The “bosses” are those who collect statistics.
Here http://gidepark.ru/post/poll/index/id/41279#5?marketgid the sample is ~2,750. In Levada’s poll – 1,600.
This short video says it all
Yeah, yeah, grafomanka, we get it: Putin is evil, authoritarian dictator, must be stopped at any cost, otherwise evil Russian Bear will rise up to rape lovely body of innocent Western world. Yada yada..
but this wasn’t supposed to be serious/sorry. If anything it paints Putin as cheeky, not evil
Sorry, grafomanka, I didn’t realize it was a joke. I need to work on my sense of humor…
This is awesome:
http://esquire.ru/speech
Just got Putin to say the stuff I like.
Thanks for the link, kovane, this is a cool utility. I have a lot of things that I want Putin to say. Meanwhile, here is a priceless gem that the real Putin actually uttered yesterday, in commenting on Hillary’s visit to Gruzia:
Никто не даст нам избавления: ни царь, ни Бог и ни герой…
I love it!
Well, Putin has gone a long way since 2000. I mean his expertise in public speeches. He was very awkward in the beginning of his first term. Larry King practically owned him then. You can say about him whatever you like, but even his enemies admit that he’s become a very confident public persona, his speeches are precise, witty and he ad-libs easily. His snide remark to Bush about democracy in Iraq and quotation from Pushkin, referring to a meeting between Saakashvili and Yuschenko, come to mind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rIfEkL9ztA
Though, even now, his confidence falters sometimes, like at the meeting with musician Yura
On the other hand. Medvedev certainly lacks this quality. Everybody remembers his ‘cast in granite’ lapse. And I don’t think he will get better at this, unfortunately.
Well, it’s great if a national leader can also be a good speaker, but it’s not the most important thing. For example, Yanukovich, (Prez of Ukraine), is a TERRIBLE speaker. Whole websites are devoted to his verbal gaffes. But the fact is, Yanukovish is one of the smartest and craftiest politicians in Europe. He may not speak Ukrainian well (or even a standard dialect of Russian), but he can still run the Ukraine government with one hand tied behind his back and never be late for dinner.
Then in the U.S. we see Barack Obama, who is a very smart guy, a true intellectual and a world-class orator with a complete mastery of the American English. But politically Obama is failing because his instincts are not so good and he listens to the wrong people.
Moral of the story: better to be a great politician than a great orator. If you have to choose.
No argument there. If to use an analogy with business, you can run a great company with an abysmal PR-department and an insolvent company with top-notch PR. But all in all, eloquence and oratory skills are very important qualities for any public politician. And they very often make a difference. (Martin Luther King, Mao Zedong and Hitler, for example)
But the fact(?!) is, Yanukovish is one of the smartest(?) and craftiest(?) politicians in Europe. He may not speak Ukrainian well (or even a standard dialect of Russian), but he can still run the Ukraine government with one hand tied(?) behind his back and never be late for dinner.
*****
So nice and laudable! Just having started as president, Yanukovich nears the greatness. And there’s even something more: his portraits can be medicinal! What yet more is to come…