2008 Presidential Contenders

Author: The Editors
Website: RL Online
Department:
Page: 0   ( 0) pages

Summary: Handicapping the contenders to take over for Vladimir Putin next year.

The 2008 Presidential Race

On December 10, President Putin and the two major political parties put their support behind Dmitry Medvedev for the 2008 Presidential Election. The election is just -1905 days away, but it is also over.

WINNER: Dmitry Medvedev

Last Bookie rating: 3.39:1
Current position: 1st Deputy Prime Minister
A youthful 42, Medvedev is seen as a moderate, and has worked with Putin for 17 years. He has been a lawyer, teacher and a bureaucrat. He has never held elective office. He came to Moscow from St. Petersburg in 1999. Trim (having lost a good bit of weight in the last year) and often tense-looking, he has a reputation for delivering dry, read-from-the-sheet speeches.
[Plus]: Nothing like Putin.
[Minus]: Nothing like Putin.

Runners Up

2. Sergei Ivanov

Bookie rating: 2.1:1
Current position: 1st Deputy Minister
The new top-dog, Ivanov has the national security brief going for him (as well as a long career in the KGB, SVR and FSB). He is also fairly well trusted by Russians and now second oldest (53) of the front runners. Attempts to carry himself with a sense of nobility, he has the whole FSB persona going for him, which the public does not yet seem to have tired of. Oh, and he speaks English really well. He spread his lead over Medvedev during 2007, such that by this fall, he is getting much more media coverage and has been the one at crucial unveilings, and giving crucial speeches.
[Plus]: Public still seems to respond favorably to the whole Chekist, Shtirlitz, Andropov, Putin thing.
[Minus]: The widely-known secret scandal involving his son who ran over a 68-year-old babushka with his speeding Volkswagen.

3. Victor Zubkov

Bookie rating: 5:1
Current position: Prime Minister
Well, in September the promised Dark Horse was marched out of the stable. A virtual unknown, Zubkov was days from retirement when Putin elevated him to the PM job after sacking the government. Zubkov has extensive experience in rooting out financial corruption and in agriculture. More important, he has ridden Putin's coattails for the last decade and is widely seen to be a loyal caretaker option.
[Plus]: Continuity.
[Minus]: Continuity.

4. Boris Gryzlov

Bookie rating: n/a
Current position: Duma Speaker and Leader of the United Russia Party
An aspirant to power from, you guessed it, St. Petersburg, Gryzlov was a virtual unknown before 1999. Rising on Putin's coattails and proving himself a loyal and accomplished politician, he has served as interior minister and been a key player in the re-consolidation of one-party rule in Russia. Definitely someone to watch, he could be the "real candidate" behind the Medvedev stalking horse. He will head the parliamentary list for A Just Russia.
[Plus]: Bushy mustache definitely gives him the Cossack and macho vote.
[Minus]: C'mon, he rose to power in the Duma. It's like thinking you should be the president of Saks just because you create great window displays on Fifth Avenue.

5. Sergei Shoigu

Bookie rating: n/a
Current position: Emergencies Minister
Battle-hardened by leading Russia's response to difficult crises and emergencies over the last few years, Shoigu, 51, is one of Russians' most trusted politicians and is an ethnic Tuvan. The ethnic card may act against Shoigu, and given recent crackdowns on illegal immigrants, Russians may not be psychically ready for a president with a distinctively non-Russian surname.
[Plus]: This guy can handle an emergency, and God knows, Russia has its share, what with covering 1/6 of the world's surface and having all those rotting nuke plants and pending environmental spills.
[Minus]: Wrong last name. Consider the litany of throat-singing Tuvan jokes that would accompany his presidency.

Alexei Kudrin

Current position: Finance Minister

Alexander Zhukov

Current position: Deputy Prime Minister