Russia Election Campaign: Zyuganov Leads Polls 🇷🇺

(12 Jun 1996) Russian/Eng/Nat

Dominating the opinion polls at the outset of Russia's election campaign, Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov is now looking a little red-faced.

Zyuganov has been forced to look on as his lead evaporates and Boris Yeltsin's ratings soar.

The Communists have blamed biased media coverage for their dwindling fortunes.

Yet the Russian public and political analysts point to a different reason: when it comes to full-steam, crowd-pulling, populist campaigning, Boris does it better.

It was a far cry from the Red Guard - majorettes in miniskirts kicking off the Communists' last big Congress before Russia goes to the polls.

The razzmatazz was more like a U-S party convention than the usual grey-suited display of communist sobriety.

For leader Gennady Zyuganov, the gala should have been the crowning moment of his presidential campaign.

But something was missing.

Zyuganov has watched impotently as a massive lead at the start of the campaign has been whittled away.

He now trails badly in second place.

Landing at another destination on his whistle-stop tour of Russia's eleven time zones, there's a lot for Boris Yeltsin to smile about.

Most polls now put him at least ten points ahead of Zyuganov with around 35 per cent of the vote.

An infectious party atmosphere has taken over the last leg of his campaign.

It has left Gennady Zyuganov to wonder just what went wrong.

SOUNDBITE (English)
When he travels, he speaks to his own. He speaks to his own party organisers. That's a good tactic if you're running for parliament because if gets out your own activists. But it doesn't get out new votes for the Communist Party. And that I think is a tactic that has really gone wrong.
SUPER CAPTION: Michael McFaul, Analyst, Carnegie Endowment,
Moscow

The Communists blame the media for their dwindling fortunes.

Blanket coverage of Yeltsin's day starts off every news bulletin.

Zyuganov rarely gets a mention - and then often it is only to compare him to Hitler or Stalin.

Yet analysts aren't convinced that television coverage has played such a key role.

SOUNDBITE (English)
Zyuganov's electorate is very committed and I don't think that kind of electorate will be affected strongly - or at all, for that matter - by what the media has to say.
SUPERCAPTION: Viktor Linnik, Former "Pravda" New York bureau
chief and media analyst

Ecstatic pensioners greet Zyuganov wherever he travels.

Efforts to win the passions of other voters, however, have failed miserably.

Even this rare display of high-spirits looked staged.

When it comes to campaign antics, Yeltsin simply does it better.

For a man who last year seemed close to death with a chronic heart disorder, Yeltsin's exuberant campaign style may have won the hearts of the undecided.

SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
Of course it played a role. I value him even more now. He has proved that not only can he drink, but he can also get things done.
SUPERCAPTION: Nina Vasilyeva, Pensioner

SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
He just made some clever moves during the campaign and that's why he's winning percentage points. It's as simple as that.
SUPERCAPTION: Yuri Valentinov, Publishing Executive

An added advantage, Yeltsin is also the man controlling Russia's purse strings.

Added to a last minute peace deal in Chechnya, Yeltsin's bonanza of election promises and one-off payments hasn't hurt his chances at all.

This woman miner's bear hug with Boris produced an apartment and automobile.

Vintage Yeltsin, say the analysts.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
Moscow




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