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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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Putin Pick Hits Campaign Trail

Medvedev launches bid with 79% support in polls, virtually no competition

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(Newser) – Vladimir Putin's hand-picked replacement has launched his presidential campaign with a 2-day visit to Russia's far west. Dmitry Medvedev has seen his popularity soar since the president announced he would like to see him as his successor: he's now polling 79%, higher than Putin did before his 2004 landslide victory, Bloomberg reports. Barred from a third term, Putin has said he would agree to become Medvedev's PM.

Condoleezza Rice expressed disappointment that Russia would not hold a "contested" presidential race; competition is marginal after several candidates dropped out, with one potential opponent calling the process a "total farce." But foreign business interests view Medvedev, currently the chairman of Gazprom, as a friend of market reforms and a welcome continuation of Putin-era financial policies.

Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev looks on while visiting the town of Svetly in the Russia's western exclave of Kaliningrad sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland, on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2008. Founded in 1255 by the Teutonic Order of knights, the city was called Koenigsburg and was capital of...
Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev looks on while visiting the town of Svetly in the Russia's western exclave of Kaliningrad sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland, on Thursday, Jan....   (Associated Press)
Russian First Deputy Prime Minister and presidential candidate, Dmitry Medvedev, left, and his wife Svetlana, right, attend an Orthodox Christmas service in Moscow's Christ The Savior Cathedral, early Monday, Jan. 7, 2008. Christmas falls on Jan. 7 for Orthodox Christians in the Holy Land, Russia and other Orthodox churches that...
Russian First Deputy Prime Minister and presidential candidate, Dmitry Medvedev, left, and his wife Svetlana, right, attend an Orthodox Christmas service in Moscow's Christ The Savior Cathedral, early...   (Associated Press)
President Vladimir Putin jokes, left, while Russia's First Deputy Premier and presidential candidate Dmitry Medvedev smiles, right, at the opening ceremony of the Year of the Family in Moscow's Kremlin on Monday, Dec. 24, 2007. (AP Photo/ RIA Novosti, Dmitry Astakhov, Presidential Press Service)
President Vladimir Putin jokes, left, while Russia's First Deputy Premier and presidential candidate Dmitry Medvedev smiles, right, at the opening ceremony of the Year of the Family in Moscow's Kremlin...   (Associated Press)
Russia's First Deputy Premier and presidential candidate Dmitry Medvedev applauds, center, during the opening ceremony of the Year of the Family in Moscow's Kremlin on Monday, Dec. 24, 2007. (AP Photo/ RIA Novosti, Dmitry Astakhov, Presidential Press Service)
Russia's First Deputy Premier and presidential candidate Dmitry Medvedev applauds, center, during the opening ceremony of the Year of the Family in Moscow's Kremlin on Monday, Dec. 24, 2007. (AP Photo/...   (Associated Press)
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