Communists came in second as they always have since the fall of the Soviet Union with 14%.
And the liberal opposition was reduced to a rounding error of plus or minus 2%.
If none of them had showed up, the result would have been the same. You can’t beat a guy with an 80% approval rating.
Putin is certainly an enigma to both Russians and foreigners but he does get where most Russians are and can credibly speak for the country.
“Liberal Democrat” Zhirinovsky is nuttier than Putin, though I don’t think he’s killed anybody yet ...
In Syria, Putin/Russia are protecting Syrian Christians and other minorities. We’re on the side of the head-chopping Jihadists.
So was Chavez in Venezuela. Look how that turned out.