MOSCOW – Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev says he wants a second term, but won't stand against Vladimir Putin. Medvedev said in an interview with the Financial Times broadcast Monday by Russian television stations that he and Putin wouldn't face one another in the election next March because their rivalry would hurt the country. Both men have said repeatedly that they will decide later which of them will run for president in the vote. Putin, who shifted into prime minister's seat in 2008 after serving the constitutional limit of two consecutive terms, is seen as more powerful and is widely expected to reclaim the job.
Yea, ok buddy. You can pretend you have a choice here, pretend its for the good of the country all you want. Bottom line is you're scared as hell that you'll end up poisoned, disfigured, and humiliated if you square off against the supreme ruler that is Putin.
Putin is putting on a display of bullying that bullies will talk about for years to come. Not since FDR reclaimed the US throne for a third and final time has politics seen such an un-flinching force.
Obama's gotta be so jealous right now. Here we are, lining up dozens of candidates to face off against him in 2012, after just 1 term, meanwhile Putin's been running Russia for over a decade and political rivals are either bowing out willingly or locked up in the gulag. You don't think Obama wishes he could poison Mitt? You don't think he'd like to take it to the streets against Perry, bring out his black side? Of course he does, but it takes a man with the spine of a rhino to brazenly flaunt the norms and rules of society. A born leader like Putin.
