President Vladimir

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

I would argue that Russia's elections are actually mostly free. Why? Because they have very little reason to rig them. Western polling agencies found Putin just as popular as their Russian counterpart agencies did. He is insanely popular there. My entire family there adores him, and there are very few who actually dislike him. Russia has a culture of wanting a strongman who gets up in the face of their enemies and commands with an iron fist. Believe it or not, some cultures prefer other methods of governance besides democracy. It's almost all that they have ever known. Besides a few points during the Russian Revolution and its multiple short provisional governments, and perestroika (debatable), Russians have basically been under a strongman iron fist rule for as long as people remember. Its really hard and unappealing to stray from something that is basically all that you have ever known, and it takes a miracle and a radical event to actually even have a chance of sparking change. I do think today's election in Russia was real, just with an entirely different populace.

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

I would argue that Russia's elections are actually mostly free. Why? Because they have very little reason to rig them. Western polling agencies found Putin just as popular as their Russian counterpart agencies did. He is insanely popular there. My entire family there adores him, and there are very few who actually dislike him. Russia has a culture of wanting a strongman who gets up in the face of their enemies and commands with an iron fist. Believe it or not, some cultures prefer other methods of governance besides democracy. It's almost all that they have ever known. Besides a few points during the Russian Revolution and its multiple short provisional governments, and perestroika (debatable), Russians have basically been under a strongman iron fist rule for as long as people remember. Its really hard and unappealing to stray from something that is basically all that you have ever known, and it takes a miracle and a radical event to actually even have a chance of sparking change. I do think today's election in Russia was real, just with an entirely different populace.

Did you not see all the videos of ballot stuffing today or miss all the political suppression going on beforehand?

I said mostly. Ballot stuffing in some voting locations might change the vote by a couple points, but not significantly. And the only significant candidate they blocked was Navalny. So yes, not western free, but more or less free.

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

I said mostly. Ballot stuffing in some voting locations might change the vote by a couple points, but not significantly. And the only significant candidate they blocked was Navalny. So yes, not western free, but more or less free.

40% of the Russian electorate also didn't cast a vote which may have been because they feel that it wouldn't make any difference.

That figure is closer to 30 now, and it's a helluva lot better than our turnout, (granted there is ballot stuffing in some areas which changes turnout numbers by a couple of points, but not enough to hit 15-20% of a difference).

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

Russia has a culture of wanting a strongman who gets up in the face of their enemies and commands with an iron fist.

I hear that often, but I'd rather say that people just don't see much value in democracy (although not opposed to it in principle) and would support anyone, strongman or not, who will bring order, stability and improvement of standards of living.

I mean us Americans also want someone who will bring about those things, but we are still very different.