Putin gets a smack down

[Scooter]

I guess the shirtless photos are no longer enough:

Vladimir Putin’s ruling party suffered a big drop in support in a parliamentary election on Sunday and was not certain even of holding on to a majority of seats, an exit poll showed.

If confirmed, the result is a considerable blow to Putin because the election was widely seen as a test of his personal authority before his planned return to the presidency next year.

The poll announced on state television showed Putin’s party, United Russia, would win the election to the State Duma lower house with 48.5 percent of the votes cast, compared with 64.3 percent in 2007.

The poll did not make clear how the 450 seats in the Duma would be shared out under complicated calculations. But a second poll projected United Russia, which has dominated the chamber since 2003, would have only 220 seats.

The communist party emerged in second place in both polls with considerable gains over 2007.

[Lord Jim]

It's nice to see something like this happen...

Surprising as well, given everything that Putin has done to make it as difficult as possible for political opposition to operate....

It makes one wonder how badly his party would have fared in elections that were really conducted on a level playing field....

I also suspect that Putin will see this as a wake up call and further tighten the screws to make sure no similar embarrassment befalls him when he runs to retake the Presidency this spring.