Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin share a friendly moment

On Monday, answering questions from journalists, President Medvedev said "I don't know what's going to happen in 2012, I don't know who'll be running. It can be Medvedev, it can be Putin, it can be someone third... I would prefer to avoid a competition within the friendly forces, it would be bad for the country" said Medvedev making clear that he will not compete with Putin if the latter decides to run. Russian political anaylsts called Medvedev's response a bluff. Sergey Mitrohin, chairman of political party "Yabloko" said that Sergey Ivanov can be that "third" candidate, since he did not get the Putin's endorsement in the last campaign, paving the way for Medvedev's easy victory.

In the meantime, public opinion poll--conducted by Russia's most respected independent agency Levada--showed that if Putin and/or Medvdev were to run today, 27% would give their vote to Putin, 20% to Medvedev, and 4% to Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov. Russia's liberal candidates popular in the West (like chess player Kasparov) did not get enough percentage to show even 0.1% (1 out of 1,000) chance of winning Russia's presidency. While 15% agree that Medvedev has been changing Russia's political course, 45% of the population do not know who to vote for and where to go. Russia, just like America's Republican Party, desperately needs new leader, but does not know where to find one.