"Volgograd Obama" praises Putin

Sean's Russia blog has a follow-up post on Joachim "Volgograd Obama" Crima, the Guinea-Bissau immigrant who is vying to become Russia's first black elected officia. While early coverate of  Crima's speculated that his campaign was a ploy to take votes away from the United Russia party in Volgograd, he turns out to be a member of the party and a pretty big fan of Vladimir Putin:

“I’ve lived in Russia many, many years and I see how Vladimir Vladimirovich runs the country.  I think that if the country had a hundred of such people like Putin, Russia would be the first in the world.  I respect him very much and want to follow his example.  He’s an excellent person, and a serious figure on the world stage.”

The novelty of Crima's campaign continues to attract media attention and says he is brushing up on his English and French because of all the foreign reporters who have been calling him. Even is Crima's intentions are genuine, much of the Russian media's coverage remains condescending and racist, and Crima isn't exactly discouraging them by promising to "toil like a negro" and smiling for pictures holding watermelons.

Whatever happens, some very strange cultural dynamics are on display here. Read the SRB post for more details.