Russian Leader Vladimir Putin Expects to Win at The Coming Election

Russian Leader Vladimir Putin Expects to Win at The Coming Election

Vladimir Putin followed the footsteps of Russia's tsars when he paused in his presidential election campaign to seek the blessing of the Byzantine icon which believers say works miracles, the Virgin of Tikhvin.

Legends say that all the tsars except one sought the Virgin's blessing before ascending the throne. The only one, who did not, Nicholas II, was killed by revolutionaries in 1918.

Putin has already visited the icon in a 16th-century monastery five times. His latest visit to the monastery was in January, before he started his campaign and erased any doubt he will win convincingly.

Since then the prime minister appears to have united with the core voters in the provinces, even though he is being challenged by big opposition protests in Moscow and St Petersburg.

Allegedly, there was a 15-percentage-point rise in Putin's poll rating since December as evidence of a successful campaign.

Putin’s campaign has been led by Vyacheslav Volodin, the only one in Putin's entourage who had practical experience of the rough election battles of the anarchic 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union, since the end of December.

"For some time it seemed that it would be hard for Putin to score a convincing victory. This danger is now gone," said Igor Kholmanskikh, a tank factory manager who volunteered to bring his workers to Moscow to deal with protesters.

Friday was the last day of campaigning. Putin’s campaign took him to various corners of Russia to meet supporters, visit factories and presided meetings with ministers and local officials.

Putin, who was born to a working-class family and a former KGB spy, seemed at ease with the fans, even when they discussed the protests.

Posted by James Fried on Saturday March 03 2012, 4:59 AM EST. Ref: CNN. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0