Soviet Union Kissing Hands, Shaking Babies

By John Kohan/Moscow

Boris Yeltsin insisted that he was only going to the Arctic region of Murmansk on a "business trip" last week, but he certainly looked and acted like a man running for office. The Russian populist donned a white coat to inspect a high-tech laboratory, reviewed black-uniformed columns of sailors and promised the crew of the nuclear missile cruiser Kirov that he would do everything possible to improve their living conditions. Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Nikolai Ryzhkov toured the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, lending a sympathetic ear to the problems of defense workers at a chemical factory. Back in Moscow Kremlin adviser Vadim Bakatin talked to cossack leaders about what he called his "common sense" politics.

Welcome to the Russian presidential campaign, which got off to a breathless and stumbling start last week -- and with good reason. The Congress of People's Deputies approved the Yeltsin-sponsored plan to create a strong executive office only two weeks ago, and the election, in which more than 100 million Russians are eligible to vote, will be held on June 12. That leaves little time for the six registered candidates to do anything but go through the motions of a campaign. In fact, the three "unknowns" in the race -- Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Albert Makashov and Aman-geldy Tuleyev -- tried without success to get the vote postponed until the fall. But such problems in no way diminished the fact that for the first time in history, Russians will be able to choose their leader in a democratic ballot.

There are no flashy campaign posters, no sound trucks blaring out slogans. Nor is there likely to be much Western-style razzle-dazzle, given a severe paper shortage and the miserly sum of 200,000 rubles that authorities have granted each candidate. The closest thing to television ads was endorsements tucked away in evening news reports. The Russian news show, Vesti, for example, showed a Muslim cleric from the North Caucasus announcing that his people were "praying to the Almighty" for a Yeltsin victory.

The candidates, in fact, could have learned a lesson or two from the old pro, Mikhail Gorbachev. Even though he is not running for anything, the Soviet President managed to capture the limelight during a visit to Kazakhstan last week, where he donned a sporty cap to pose for cameras in a wheat field. Though Gorbachev has made fresh peace with Yeltsin, he has refused to endorse any candidate in the race.

Yeltsin would seem to be a shoo-in for the Russian presidency. Opinion polls consistently give him more than 50% of the vote. He also enjoys the advantages of the incumbent in his post as chairman of the Russian parliament. Campaign manager Gennadi Burbulis intends to exploit Yeltsin's position by depicting him constantly on the job, meeting with local leaders across Russia. Yeltsin's campaign slogan may not be very catchy, but the emphasis is on substance: "Russians, Unite in Realizing in Practice the Radical Reform of Russian Life."

While Yeltsin tries to look presidential, the verbal slanging has been left to his choice for vice president, Alexander Rutskoi, a gruff air force colonel who was captured during the war in Afghanistan and given his country's highest award for valor, Hero of the Soviet Union. A leader of the Communists for Democracy reform movement, Rutskoi told reporters last week that he simply could not understand "why Ryzhkov would even consider running for president after what he managed to do during five years as prime minister."

Ryzhkov, who was replaced as prime minister in January, thought he had pocketed the military vote when he chose General Boris Gromov as his running mate. An articulate hard-liner, Gromov served as the Soviet commander in Afghanistan before becoming Deputy Interior Minister in December. But even if Rutskoi does win votes from enlisted men and reform-minded Communists, Ryzhkov has earned the support of the military-industrial complex and the party bureaucracy through his attacks on economic "shock therapy" and his defense of the country's "socialist choice." Because Ryzhkov and Gromov are counting so much on local party machines and military discipline to secure votes, they have been accused in the press of waging a campaign of "limousines with flashing lights and gleaming generals' stars."

The race has a dark horse: Bakatin, the former Interior Minister and now member of Gorbachev's Security Council. If Yeltsin has the support of radical reformers and Ryzhkov the backing of hard-line generals and party hacks, Bakatin insists that he is an "independent" candidate. Speculation that he is really the Kremlin's man has been so intense, however, that Bakatin felt compelled to note last week that "I've said no to Gorbachev many times." Bakatin shrewdly chose as his running mate Ramazan Abdulatipov, an ethnic Muslim who is chairman of the Russian parliament's Council of Nationalities. Opposition to Yeltsin's sovereignty campaign has been particularly fierce in Russia's ethnic enclaves. Bakatin's reputation as a reformer is also sufficiently solid that he might draw enough moderate votes from Yeltsin to force a runoff election, which will take place if no candidate receives 50% of the vote.

The election has already sparked spirited exchanges on the streets. In Moscow last week, a young man got into a verbal brawl after he asserted that Yeltsin had been "dishonest" because he had backed down in public on private deals he had made with Gorbachev.

"All the communists care about is slurping down black caviar and Napoleon brandy," said a slightly inebriated listener. "That goes for Ryzhkov -- and Bakatin too."

"Listen," a bespectacled intellectual interrupted. "These elections will not only decide the fate of Russia but the entire country. Yeltsin needs our support."

If passion is any indication, Yeltsin should prevail. A recent item in the Personals column of a Moscow newspaper suggested the depth of feeling for him among average Russians. A "charming" woman wanted to meet a "man under 35 for the purpose of setting up a family." She set only one other condition: "Persons who do not share the political views of Yeltsin need not apply."