Posted on 03/18/2018 12:48:05 PM PDT by GoldenState_Rose
Putin's thumping victory will extend his total time in office to nearly a quarter of a century, until 2024, by which time he will be 71. Only Soviet dictator Josef Stalin ruled for longer. Putin has promised to use his new term to beef up Russia's defences against the West and to raise living standards.
None of the seven candidates who ran against him posed a threat, and opposition leader Alexei Navalny was barred from running. Critics alleged that officials had compelled people to come to the polls to ensure that voter boredom at the one-sided contest did not lead to a low turnout.
Russia's Central Election Commission recognised that there were some irregularities, but were likely to dismiss wider criticism and declare the overall result legitimate.
Putin loyalists said the result was a vindication of his tough stance towards the West.
Putin's bellicose language reached a crescendo before the election in a state-of-the-nation speech when he unveiled new nuclear weapons, saying they could hit almost any point in the world and evade a U.S.-built missile shield.
At odds with the West over Syria, Ukraine, allegations of Russian election meddling and cyber attacks, and the poisoning in Britain of a former Russian spy and his daughter, relations between Moscow and the West are at a post Cold War low.
Putin, 65, has been in power, either as president or prime minister, since 2000.
(Excerpt) Read more at themoscowtimes.com ...
Vlad won convincingly but still lacked the get out the vote power that Saddam once had.
Putin’s highest vote came from Crimea and Sevastopol, voting for the first time in a Russian presidential election.
He won 92% of the vote. Just like Hilly won 90% in Phladelphia!
Soviet vote was always 99%.
Good to know opposition exists in Putin’s Russia even when its weak.
Putin’s goal “Make Russia Great Again!”
No, but there’s this footage here. LoL the tagline on Drudge was “Vlad’s how he did it!”
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5841519/russian-elections-presidential-rigged-nuns-footage-latest/
definitely Russian collusion. appoint a Special Counsel.
FakeNewsMSM’s favorite guy, Navalny, cleverly tells his supporters to boycott the vote, thereby avoiding the obvious. after all, a Navalny protest vote might have suggested he was a popular alternative which, of course, he wasn’t.
Navalny was banned from running.
Because of a court conviction.
Still, Putin has no real heir apparent.
He can stay in office as long he likes. He and Chinese President Xi are from the same generation.
They had to rig votes?
Maybe in a close election but vote fraud wouldn’t have made a difference here.
Then again, official impunity has always been a fact of life in Russia.
People live with it like the weather.
Hiterly didn’t go into Mother Russia with Bernie Sanders to run as a “Reform Communism” ticket?
Where is that reset button?
There are more socialists in America than in Russia.
Hard to say “no” to free even when free comes with a hidden price tag.
Russia learned its lesson. We have yet to learn ours.
Richard Nixon had the good grace not to contest the close election of JFK. Now that we know what we know about the Democrat Party, maybe he should have. Not that it would have changed their behavior towards him. I think history will be kinder to him that even the GOP and conservatives have been.
In Syria, Putin/Russia are protecting Syrian Christians and other minorities. We’re on the side of the head-chopping Jihadists.
When they talk about stuffing ballot boxes, they mean stuffing ballot boxes. What would he need help from America for? He’d take Tammany Hall and the Daley Machine back to school.
Funny you should say that! Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Rossiya-1 TV Channel just accused the West of electoral collusion!
95% of the vote is now in - Putin has won the election with a record 77% of the vote. Now just three points off his 80% approval rating.
A pretty impressive win and one for the Russian and world record books for a landslide win.
What Mr. Ambassador? Putin won again? I’m shocked I tell you, shocked.
What? Trump colluded with Putin? Putin colluded with Trump? Everybody colluded with everybody and danced the Mazorka ‘til their eyes bugged out?
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