Please do not stop. That is why I signed on this list for. I did not sign to read people flaming the hell out of each other and accusing each other of slander and racism ;-)
Naji
----- Original Message ----- From: "ChrisD(RJ)" <chrisd at russiajournal.com> To: <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com> Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2002 6:30 AM Subject: Putin da popular
> OK, this is the last one, I swear!
>
> Chris Doss
> The Russia Journal
> ----------------------------
>
> Moskovsky Komsomolets
> March 26, 2002
> SYMBOL IN A JACKET
> RESULTS OF OPINION POLLS INDICATE...
> Author: Natalia Galimova, Lyuba Shary
> Source: Moskovsky Komsomolets, March 26, 2002, p. 3
> [from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]
> Russians continue to see Putin as a symbol of stability but they do
> not expect any political or economic breakthrough from his
> administration
>
> AS ALWAYS, SOCIOLOGISTS MARKED THE ANNIVERSARY OF VLADIMIR PUTIN'S
> PRESIDENCY WITH INNUMERABLE OPINION POLLS. THE LATTER INDICATE AN
> INTERESTING TENDENCY. PUTIN'S "PERSONAL" RATING REMAINS HIGH, BUT THE
> NUMBER OF OPTIMISTS OF HIS POLICIES DWINDLED OVER THE MONTHS WHEN
> RESPONDENTS WERE ASKED TO ELABORATE (LIKE "DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THE
> PRESIDENT CAN GET THE COUNTRY OUT OF THE CRISIS?" OR "DO YOU THINK
> ORDER IN CHECHNYA WILL BE RESTORED?").
>
> Aleksei Levinson, chief of the Quality Survey Department of the
> All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center: The worse the state of
> affairs in the country is, or the worse the state of affairs is in
> some isolated sphere, the more society is eager to express its
> sympathies with the president, the symbol of unity and fame of the
> state. It is particularly typical of elderly Russians who still
> remember slogans like "We will close the ranks around the party and
> its leader in response to imperialist plots" etc. Society is looking
> for a medicine from traumas and many associate this medicine with
> Putin. But a treatment like that is symbolic at best. When actions are
> mentioned, the picture is wholly different.
> This is how many respondents reply. "It does not matter that
> Putin is young and strong that it will be nice for the state to be
> young and strong again. We are sick of lagging behind". Yes, some
> hopes associated with the president are dying out, but the masses do
> not see him as executor of some plans. These masses see the president
> as the symbolic center of society, the pinnacle. It is also important
> that Putin does not have anyone looking like a rival on the political
> arena. Opinion polls show again and again that the people do not see
> any alternative to Putin and actually do not want to see any
> alternative.
> Alexander Oslon, President of the Public Opinion Foundation: Warm
> feelings exist toward Putin not because of who he is. They exist
> because there is a need of such a leader in society. This need, the
> need for stability, was developed throughout the last decade. Under
> Boris Yeltsin, the masses were secretly confident that everything
> could crash at any time. Not so under Putin. Or so the people now
> believe, and would believe.
> Actually, there is only one threat to Putin, and it exists in the
> distant future. The typical warm feelings towards the president may
> gradually transform into a habit. Meaning that the people will start
> taking it for granted. There will be no contrast: nobody will recall
> what happened the day before yesterday, and nothing extraordinary
> would be seen in what happened yesterday or today. For the time being,
> however, there are no indications of that. A Russian will long resist
> disappointment...
> Some results of opinion polls conducted by the All-Russian Public
> Opinion Research Center
> Question: Do you think Vladimir Putin will be able to restore
> order in the country?
> Answer May 2000 April 2001 January 2002
> I think so 82% 73% 72%
> I do not think so 16% 26% 24%
> I do not know 2% 1% 4%
> Question: Do you think Vladimir Putin will be able to get Russia
> out of the economic crisis?
> Answer May 2000 April 2001 January 2002
> I think so 73% 66% 64%
> I do not think so 24% 30% 31%
> I do not know 3% 4% 5%
> (Translated by A. Ignatkin)
>