Xenophobia is fairly widespread in Russia.
No opposition politician has ever taken responsibility for his or her election failures.
People hate politicians. And I can understand why.
I don't know why, but Putin has made a ritual out of humiliating Medvedev. Sometimes I even feel sorry for the prime minister.
Putin has reversed all the liberalizing reforms carried out by his predecessor.
Unfortunately, people expect a Russian opposition politician to be a manic libertarian who thinks the oligarchs are great, who isn't interested in the problems of retirees and who believes the invisible hand of the market will resolve everything.