Breaking with tradition, Russia roots for Obama

The upcoming US election is getting massive play in the Russian media, and many people here say they’re hoping that the Democrat, Barack Obama, will win. Special Coverage

The upcoming US election is getting massive play in the Russian media, and many people here say they’re hoping that the Democrat, Barack Obama, will win.

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A survey conducted last week by the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre found that 27 per cent of Russians would vote for Obama if they could, compared with 6 per cent who would support Republican John McCain. A further 34 per cent declined to answer, but informal polls show a majority are intrigued by, and have favourable feelings about Obama.

This comes as quite a surprise, because it’s an old truism in Moscow that the Democrats’ rhetoric may sound more friendly, but it’s always been Republican presidents who deliver real benefits for Russia.

For example, Richard Nixon started Detente -- a policy of relaxation -- and initiated arms control negotiations with the USSR. Ronald Reagan embraced Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms and signed sweeping disarmament treaties, while George HW Bush worked with Gorbachev to peacefully end the Cold War.

By contrast, the Democrat Jimmy Carter organized a boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, while Bill Clinton began the expansion of NATO into the former Soviet sphere of influence and bombed Russia’s ally Serbia during the 1999 Kosovo war.

But the White House’s current occupant, George W. Bush, has done much to undo the Republicans’ good reputation in Russia, by unilaterally dumping the 1971 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, pushing NATO expansion into the former Soviet Union and installing U.S. missile defence weapons in Poland and the Czech Republic.

McCain has infuriated many here with his vocal “Russia-bashing”, including a pledge to push for Russia’s expulsion from the G-8 and passionate support for Georgia during the Caucasus war last August.

The Kremlin was also incensed by McCain’s comment during a presidential debate that “when I looked into (former Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s eyes, I saw three letters: K-G-B.” Last week, in what an embarassed McCain campaign official described as “an error”, Russian United Nations ambassador Vitaly Churkin found a computer-generated fund raising letter from the McCain campaign in his mailbox.

The Russian media seized upon the letter and took it as a signal to dish out some gleeful payback.

“What a joke to see Mc-Cain calling Russia’s ambassador ‘my friend’ and begging for money to help defeat Obama,” said one TV commentator. “McCain must be dreaming if he thinks he has any Russian friends.”