Russians will be going to the polls within hours to vote for a new president, which it seems will be Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. If Putin polls 50% of the vote, he will avoid a runoff election.
In practice, Putin's system of "managed democracy" manifests itself as voter suppression, media intimidation and jingoistic appeals to Russian nationalism (hmmm, remind you of any American political party?). It would be a shame if one of Bashar al-Assad's few allies were given another (non-consecutive) term as president, but given Putin's control of the levers of government, that's where Russia seems to be headed. We can only hope a Putin victory will lead to a re-energizing of the Russian opposition - a faint hope, but the only one Russian democracy has right now.
