With Obama Nomination, Indifference and Optimism in Russia

This little nugget from Konstantin Kosachev was buried at the bottom of a WaPo story regarding the international reaction to Sen. Barack Obama’s long-awaited victory over Sen. Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination:

And Russians have proved supremely indifferent; one poll earlier this year found that only 5 percent said they were closely watching the race. Of 40 people approached Wednesday on the streets of Moscow, only five had any opinion on the race or knew who was running. ad_icon Still, some Russians hope that a new American president will improve strained relations between Washington and Moscow. “Barack Obama looks like the candidate that can be expected to take the greatest strides towards Russia,” Konstantin Kosachev, a member of parliament, wrote in the newspaper Kommersant. “Unlike McCain he’s not infected with any Cold War phobias.”