Interesting point! Putie is a smart man. He knows this countries’ history...meaning he also knows how much they suckered us in the Cold War! I think there are 2 things driving him in all of this...his ego wants him to play Obumbles, which is way easier than he may have expected, and contempt for amateurs and maybe even a little racism in there too. He knows Obumbles is temporary but the Washingtom military machine is not. Look to him to make a big play in the near future.
OK, let’s stay on this train of thought: does Putin wish to see Hillary as US prez?
He may have a dilemma here: on the one hand Putin can read Hillary like a book through her record as FLOTUS then as US senator then as SecyState. He’s KGB & has the instincts to estimate the character & intentions of just about anyone. No doubt he has a very thick Hillary file somewhere.
Putin’s probably already figured out how to play Hillary like a cheap fiddle. He knows she has no moral compass & only cares about her own power & prestige. And as noted, Putin is extremely intelligent & like him or not, has a record of achievements inside Russia that is formidable if not always admirable.
What does Putin know about the Republican candidate? Nothing, obviously; neither he nor anyone else knows who that will be. But Putin can assume that a Republican will run against Obama’s record & hang that around Hillary’s neck and will be especially harsh on Obama’s world apology tours & the rest of our foreign policy where it looks like we are giving away the store in a futile effort to be `liked’. And for much of that time, Hillary was Obama’s cat’s paw. If a Republican does become President, Putin can just imagine the new prez announcing to the world, “No more Mister Nice Guy!”
Conclusion: I may have answered my own question. It’s not necessarily to Putin’s advantage to beat up Obama so badly that Obama becomes a serious liability to the Hillary campaign.
Meanwhile we should always remember the old Cold War adage: Americans play checkers while the Russians play chess.