The blanket coverage offered a chance to present the election in the worst possible light, with one commentator saying “Everything turned out to stink so hideously that what the United States calls ‘democracy’ prompts nothing but disgust!” The chattering classes, who would like a more open system in Russia, were dismayed that the tenor of the campaign gave the Kremlin the opportunity to paint Western democracy as a chaotic mess, contrasting it with the orderliness of the Russian political system. Never mind that the Kremlin has been accused by the White House of intervening in the American campaign, doing its best to create the appearance of chaos.
Still, various people heading home through the early dark, cold winter Tuesday evening found little to engage them.
At www.nytimes.com
