Russia’s Presidential election takes place tomorrow. Putin is expected to win comfortably and the Kremlin’s only concern is around turnout; if less then 50% of people vote it could be interpreted as a sign of dissatisfaction.
To combat apathy Putin encouraged Ksenia Sobchak – a celebrity ‘It’ girl in the mould of Paris Hilton – to run for President.
Sobchak is the personification of the negative perceptions held by the silent conservative majority of the liberal opposition: naive, aloof, out of touch and entitled.
She is critical of Russia’s foreign policy and speaks up for human rights.
Add to that her showbiz – occasionally raunchy – image and the fact that she’s a she, and you can see why Putin believes her candidacy will turnout large swathes of his deeply conservative base to vote for him.
