Boris Nadezhdin has become a dilemma for the Kremlin as he seeks to run in the March 17 presidential election. The question now is whether Russian authorities will allow him on the ballot.
The stocky, bespectacled 60-year-old local legislator and academic has struck a chord with the public, openly calling for a halt to the conflict in Ukraine, the end of mobilizing Russian men for the military, and starting a dialogue with the West. He also has criticized the country’s repression of LGBTQ+ activism.
“The collection of signatures has gone unexpectedly well for us,” Nadezhdin told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday in Moscow. “We didn’t expect this, to be honest.”
Somehow from the headline I imagined something different. I somehow imagined a little Putin. Basically someone playing the game so hardcore on purpose that it is obvious that he is faking all of his public opinions. But by pretending to be anti-LGBT, pro war, etc, he would avoid all the possible made up claims of foreign agent, being anti-Russia, etc. So they would have to find some other reason to disqualify him. Imagine they’d not be able to find one and not kill him off and he would actually have to run in a DeSantis vs Trump like manner. And if he won he’d just break all his election promises. Stop the war, paint everything in rainbows, change the constitution back.
I mean I know that’s bs but that’s where my mind went and I want to keep it there for just 5 more minutes.