What the Polls Say in Russia

Interesting reading from the latest polls done by the Yuri Levada center in Russia. The "thrill of victory" in the intermediate aftermath of the "Russian victory" in Georgia, which gave a boost to Dimitry Medvedev's poll ratings in September--has been replaced by concern about the Russian economy.

Via Angus Reid Global Monitor, the trajectory:

In August 2008--Medvedev had a 73 percent approval rating and a 22 percent disapproval; in September, the height of the victory buzz, his rating shot up to 83 percent (shades of what George H.W. Bush had in the immediate aftermath of the Gulf War in 1991). Now he's slipping back into the mid-70s; and the disapproval rating is also up.

I realize that for Western politicians to be cursed with falling approval ratings in the 70 percent range is no tragedy--but it shows that there is an undercurrent of concern about how permanent and lasting the Putin revival for Russia might be under Medvedev.