More elections (Vote for me!)

I agree, and pledge to act as follows: The Deputy is at the service of the people!

Today from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Irkutskians (Irkutskites? The Irkutskese? …”Irkutyanye” in Russian…) are taking to the polls to vote for their mayor. Unfortunately for believers (such as myself) in a free, democratic process, the fact that Moscow administration chose (and probably funded) Sergei Serebryannikov to the top of the contender list, pairing him in countless ads next to the incumbent Irkutsk Oblast’ governor, there’s little surprise expected for the results.

Again — the city duma elections last fall were equally unexciting, too.

POLITICS BACK AT MIDD. A flashback to the good ol’ high school days of running for student council, and with hopes of this one being more fair than the elections I’ve seen in Russia, I’ve got a campaign of my own underway — Casey Mahoney for “Sputnik” President! (Sputnik is Middlebury’s formerly-named Russian and Eastern European Society.)

My campaign points will be emailed to group members within the next day or two, at which point I’ll post them as an addition to this post. Let me know what you think. Tell your friends!  If you’ve come to my blog to learn more about me as a candidate, check out my “Favorite Posts” page to see what readers frequent the most often. Current members can send votes to dparker@middlebury.edu (all others, thanks for the thought, but please refrain from emailing David–it won’t help).

Or if you’re more for the pictures than travel blogging, here’s a short slideshow from my trip to Moscow for Novii God 2010 (New Years).

Me with a tractor in Red Square. Soviet technology was at the world’s forefront, back in the day. You can still sight relics of collective farms all over the nation!

Me with (/glorifying) St. Basil’s beauty. There are actually a number of churches in this cathedral. They thought I was a Russian student and gave me the discount! Otlichno!

Me with (/frightened before) St. Gregory atop a the shopping center. I am tochno v puti (definitely on the way) to mastering Russian grammar (a pun, for all you 2nd year students!).

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