Analysts at one financial firm, Aton, summed up the shock in a research note: "Yesterday's election shows what the people actually think: they are stridently nationalist, want wealth redistributed and have little interest in liberal or democratic values." Igor Mintusov, of Nikkolo M, political campaign consultants, said: "It is a sad day for liberalism. The liberals in Russia are finished in the short term." [12/9/2003]Bear in mind that the election was entirely "democratic," the real loser was not majority rule, but individual liberty. "Liberal" in this context means, roughly, "individualist."
"Democracy the Loser as Putin Triumphs" -- analysis from the right-wing Daily Telegraph: