Putin is actually very popular with many Russians. Even if we had to correct the numbers by 15 points, he would still have won.
Gerrymandering, voter inhibition, hanging chads in the US, some ballot-stuffing in Russia (by the way, how about the Russians who were prevented by the Ukraine police from voting at diplomatic facilities?) Yep, not all is as it ideally should be, however we have to stop this absurd anti-russian propaganda. Russia is a limited democracy as much as the US is a limited democracy even if the true masters are not necessarily the same. It does not behoove us to be holier-than-thou.
Putin’s popularity has to do with the way he has fostered an era of economic progress despite the sanctions imposed by the US and the EU as much as his appeal to Russian national pride. If patriotism is strong in the US, so it is in Russia.
Yes, there is corruption à la Russian, and there is still poverty, and yes they still have a long way to go. If we were to compare the US to Russia, the US is in a stage of decadence and decline with increased poverty, whereas Russia is on the way up. So much for American “Exceptionalism. Most Americans can’t stand the thought that they are not the “leaders of the free world” and that is grounds enough to posture against Russia.