It’s obvious what they’re doing. They have no real tools or ideas for addressing the problems of the people taking to the streets, so they’re trying at least to scare off the faint-hearted and the timid. They’re spreading fear. So that a person opens their news feed or social media and sees:
- arrested - detained - interrogation - search
What matters here is not even being insanely brave, but simply not being foolish. We need to understand that they can do nothing against thousands of people, and absolutely nothing against tens of thousands. They can detain maybe 500 people for a while at most—and that’s not really scary. And even that would quite likely only lead to an even bigger rally.
And it will most certainly drive up this number that is so unpleasant for the Kremlin: 59% of Muscovites know that independent candidates were barred from the ballot. The medical workers’ union puts it absolutely right:
(As an aside, we’ve lived to see the day when doctors understand politics better than politicians do.)
So when it comes to tomorrow’s rally at 2:00 p.m. outside City Hall, it’s clear what to do: come out, don’t be afraid, bring as many people you know as possible, and tell everyone around you about it. Sobyanin’s tactic of barring all independent candidates is so stupid, so unpopular, and so widely condemned across society that, as you can see, even the most odious officials (like Valentina Matviyenko) are saying things like, “some people were probably barred unfairly.” Come out and don’t hesitate. Public opinion has not been THIS much on the protesters’ side in a very long time.
And here I want to draw attention to the absolutely correct words of sociologist Grigory Yudin: we must not forget that the coalition’s main weapon—protest voting—has not even been unpacked yet.
Let’s look at the most important polling data. It’s from Moscow, but it applies just as well to St. Petersburg and Irkutsk.
13% of voters want to vote for a United Russia candidate; 11% for an independent; 6% for a Communist Party candidate; 2% for a Yabloko candidate.
What does this mean? Our main weapon is Smart Voting.
If we don’t keep shouting ourselves hoarse, “I won’t vote for a libtard / I won’t vote for a commie,” then the United Russia candidate has 13%, while the “Smart Voting” candidate has 11% + 6% + 2% = 19%.
Of course, if none of the independent candidates are registered, the quality of the candidates will decline.
Even so, we need to keep asking ourselves: why did the Kremlin and City Hall stage all of this—ballot exclusions, detentions, searches, blockings, bans on rallies? To guarantee an absolute majority for United Russia. The key element of power being seized in our country is a United Russia majority in every parliament and assembly across the country.
We must strike at this monopoly in Moscow, where they currently hold 84% of the seats. This is a real battle, and tomorrow’s rally outside City Hall is our most important engagement in positioning our forces for that battle.
Gather the troops. Register for “Smart Voting” right now. Tell everyone around you about it. Explain how it works and why it matters to take part. Come yourself and bring everyone to City Hall tomorrow. A government embodied by some pathetic nobody calling the most popular candidate in the city center a “bedbug” and an “insect” has already lost to its own citizens. All that remains is to put the score on the board: go out into the streets tomorrow, and on September 8 go to the polls with the name of the “Smart Voting” candidate in mind.