The United Russia Victory Machine

Incidentally, Solidarity activist Garry Kasparov told RFE/RL's Russian Service that the decision not to have Unified Russia candidate Anatoly Pakhomov appear in public during the campaign was a very smart one. Kasparov crossed paths with Pakhomov at a gathering to mark the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire and had this to say: "Having seen Pakhomov and having heard his short, confused speech, I understood why he was not allowed to step in front of a microphone in front of a large number of people, because this would have alienated even Unified Russia supporters."

That lesson, of course, is nothing new. Unified Russia has been running stiffs for ages now and maintains its record as the only political party in Russia that has never participated in a campaign debate. (In fairness, there have been some media reports in recent weeks that Kremlin domestic-politics overseer Vladislav Surkov has been holding seminars among Unified Russia officials with the goal of teaching them how to speak in public; so far, though, this effort has borne no fruit and Surkov is almost certainly smart enough to realize quickly what a hopeless task it is). Its candidates have a tradition of disdaining contact with voters and maybe Kasparov has put his finger on why.