“If we celebrate National Unity Day, then we should celebrate the unity of the different periods of Russian history, as Vladimir Putin said when the holiday was established.” State Duma deputy Sergei Markov. October 30, at a round table devoted to National Unity Day “I watched the inauguration of Russia’s new president, Dmitry Medvedev, with delight. I watched and sincerely believed that our country is on the right path of development.” Journalist Artur Kabanevsky. May 9, in the newspaper Slovo Neftyanika (The Oil Worker’s Word) “I thank God for Putin and respect Yeltsin for two things he did in his life. The first was placing his Communist Party membership card on the table (i.e., renouncing it). The second was bringing Putin to power.” Film director Nikita Mikhalkov. November 25, at his press conference in Kyiv “I never stop admiring the formula of the five ‘I’s, so brilliantly devised by Dmitry Medvedev!” Journalist Tatyana Rudykh. November 14, in an article in the newspaper Yakutia “The life and work of Vladimir Putin vividly confirm the old truth expressed in the proverb, ‘It is not the place that makes the man.’ Wherever he worked, regardless of the rank of the position, regardless of whether he held a public office, his talent, energy, and determination always led to success.” Chairman of the Federation Council Sergei Mironov. October 7, during an official visit to Irkutsk Region “In order to reach Putin’s level, Medvedev will at the very least have to accomplish the same heroic deeds that Putin accomplished in eight years of rule.” State Duma deputy Sergei Markov. May 8, in an interview with Gazeta.ru “‘What a pleasant surname your future president has for a Russian person,’ one Western journalist who knows Russian well told me not long ago. Of course, I could only agree with that assessment.” Writer Roy Medvedev. March 29, in the book Dmitry Medvedev — President of the Russian Federation “Your democratic spirit knows no bounds!” Governor of St. Petersburg Valentina Matviyenko. October 7, at the celebration of Vladimir Putin’s birthday “We see in you a person who is, in himself, a system-forming phenomenon.” Rector of the St. Petersburg University of the Humanities and Social Sciences Alexander Zapesotsky. October 7, at the celebration of Vladimir Putin’s birthday Toadying up to power—2008