Pessimism, it seems, is blind to partisan differences in Russia.  This is from an interesting column by Andrei Kortunov in the Moscow Times.

It is interesting that Russia’s conservative “patriots” and the diametrically opposed liberals are in many respects equally pessimistic. The patriots hold that it is naive to think there could be a new detente with the United States, because those in Washington’s ruling circles always have been and always will be antagonistic toward Russia — no matter who occupies the White House. They believe that Russophobia is deeply ingrained in the American psyche. This explains, for example, why the U.S. media is full of articles, editorials and opinion pieces that are biased against Russia and, more specifically, why NATO military exercises are being held on Russia’s border in Georgia.