Putin firmly ahead of Medvedev in Russia presidential vote

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is well ahead of President Dmitry Medvedev in public support before an upcoming vote to select the country's next leader, according to a nationwide poll made public Friday, according to dpa. A total 27 per cent of Russians polled said they would be likely to cast ballots for the former KGB spy Putin in the 2012 presidential election, while 15 per cent said they would vote for Putin's former subordinate Medvedev, researchers at the Moscow-based Levade Centre research institute found. Another 19 per cent of those surveyed said they would prefer the two politicians to run for Russia's president jointly, while 23 per cent said they wouldn't support either one. The remainder was undecided or didn't intend to vote. The results of the poll, which was conducted over 45 Russian regions, were practically unchanged from a similar survey conducted by Levanda in March on the two politicians' relative popularity. Putin served as Russia's president from 1999-2008 for the then maximum two terms in office. Russia's constitution has since been amended and he could run in 2012 for a third term. The incumbent Medvedev has said he is considering a campaign to stay in office, but has hinted he would not attempt it were it to upset his relationship with Putin. Pro-Kremlin political strategist Igor Jurgens said that Medvedev was likely to stay in office for a second term. Putin would, however, remain the "stronger player" of the two by continuing his role as "father of the nation," said Jurgens, who heads the Moscow Institute of Modern Development (INSOR). Putin and Medvedev have taken substantial pains to depict their relationship as cooperative rather than competitive. Their public images nonetheless differ somewhat, with the tougher-seeming Putin making appearances at tiger stalks and in fighter jet cockpits; while the more cerebral-appearing Medvedev has visited educational institutions and international conferences, where he has called for accelerated modernization.