The problem that the Putin-Phobes have is that Putin LOVES HIS COUNTRY...much more than can be said for Rubio/Walker/Bush/Carla/Linda, who, essentially HATE THIS COUNTRY (as it is), and show it with their policy positions.
...and the Russians, who are MUCH BETTER EDUCATED than Americans (sorry, but that’s note even debatable), understand that their leader is locked in a battle with people that don’t want his country to succeed. So it’s NO SURPRISE that Putin remains popular.
It should be known that Putin loves his country, Xi Jinping loves his country, Raul Castro loves his country, Ayatollah Khanemi loves his country, even Kim Jong Un loves his country (or at least what it is), but Obama does not love his country.
The next group are old timers who still call Russia the USSR and think there is still some Moscow commie plot to take over the world. I have heard these clowns even state that the USSR breaking up was itself a commie trick to fool us. Even after Putin lost the Ukraine to the EU except for the strategic parts they still push that nonsense. Putin does not always win as the Ukraine vs EU battles show (though he snatched a victory by making sure the other side did not win much either).
Lastly, you have the neocon types who love the idea the USA is a world empire - but they don't really say it out loud. Since Russia does not want to be ruled by the USA Putin's stance and resistance is seen as "anti-American".
Lastly, this neocon group fears a form of American nationalism that they think Putin inspires. It's old school Pat Buchanan kind of conservationism and that scares them more than anything. They don't want people saying, I like Putin's way of being for Russia first against globalism. Maybe they think it will inspire isolationism or disengagement from America's overseas adventures? That scares them a lot.