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I'd argue that countries who've experinced hardship have a tendency to favour stability and economic prosperity.

Pretty sure Putin stays in power because people still remember Yeltsin. Today's Russia is a massive improvement on 90's Russia.

As for Xi, China isn't exactly doing poorly. Not sure why anyone would want to shake things up now.

Americans should understand, Obama would have beat Trump...

If Putin were so popular he wouldn't have to suppress and murder his opposition

Are you referring to Nemtsov? Because he was definitely more useful alive, being a vestige of the old failure of a "pro-western" regime and all...

Or are you referring to his other opposition, which are paid by the US to commit crimes, and still barely get a slap on the wrist?

FYI the "stability" he brings as opposed to the chaos of the 1990s is one of Putin's major talking points.

It is one of the few constant themes in Russia.