Originally posted by SLAYER69
Also he being nominated...Does this surprise anyone?

Not in the least. Medvedev has just been a figurehead anyway. Might as well put the name to the one that is in control.

LOL... I am sure he had to do long periods of soul searching followed by the Russian people twisting his arm mighty hard to get him to reluctantly accept his old job back. What a trooper. What a fellow... The things he does for his country...

Back in the real world now...did anyone think Putin would NOT return as Russia's leader? He threw a puppet into the cat bird seat while the worst of what he saw coming for economic horror came and went. I think he always intended to jump back in the drivers seat when that phase passed and the time for military action came. Well... We're leaving the economic phase and the military one ought to be in full swing by the time Putin officially takes power back. Wow... shocking.. whooda thunk it?

I don't know much about the Russia voting system, but do the people have a 'fair' vote? If so, why would the Russia people vote in a dictator with a billion dollar house?

What I would really like to see would be a 2012 Presidential debate between the nominees of Russia and the U.S.

Dmitry Medvedev was Putin's puppet for a while.

Good thing, hope Putin wins, he's far more dangerous when working behind the scenes, than he is as a public figure and leader.

And even more dangerous when he is in disguise...

Russia will probably have the same stance with him as president as they do now. I can imagine if war does break out though that they'll have more confidence in him rather than Medvedev. Medvedev has basically just kept the throne warm for Putin anyway.

I kinda like Putin too. At least he never started WWIII, and kept imperialistic nation building to a reasonable level. That would be near zero.

Clearly Medvedev was not the one who was running the show. But what makes you think that Putin ran the show? I think he is just a figurehead too. Important one, much more important then Medvedev certainly. But not the one calling the shots most of the time.
My guess - Russia is ran by several powerful groups representing FSB (Putin), Army, criminal world,oil/gas/military corporations and ctr. This is why elections are rigged and opposition is silenced. FSB is probably most influencing, but it has to obey the rules of the game.