Running for Our Lives at Night

The latest Russian Presidential election and Seinfeld might just be a match made in heaven.

What's that?

You don't believe me?

Let's take a quick trip down memory lane with Kramer, Morty Seinfeld, and Vladimir Putin.

In an episode entitled "The Wizard" (original air date February 26, 1998), we venture to the friendly environs of Del Boca Vista Phase III to see machine politics in all its glory. After retiring to Florida in the wake of a fortune generated by his best-selling coffee table book on coffee tables, Kramer is encouraged by Morty Seinfeld to run for President of the Condo Board. Morty's intentions are not entirely pure though, as he plans to install Kramer "in a puppet regime and wield power from behind the scenes."

Such a strategy is doomed from the start, and although Kramer receives positive press from the journalistic juggernaut that is the Boca Breeze, he is ultimately brought down when the members of the Condo Board receive "Willards" instead of "Wizards".

Long story short: the puppet regime is destined for failure.

In oddly similar circumstances, the Russian electorate has chosen Dmitry Medvedev as its next President. Medvedev, a close friend and associate of current President Vladimir Putin, has apparently managed to avoid distribution of "Willards" to the Russian oil oligarchy, but he has a long way to go before the world believes he is not another victim of a Morty Seinfeld-esque power-play courtesy of the soon-to-be Prime Minister, the aforementioned Vladimir Putin.
I'm not sure if the Russian citizenry is more politically astute than the good residents of Del Boca Vista Phase III, but almost everyone knows a sham when they see one.