Putin Assumes Party Leadership, Control Of Russia

I don't usually venture into Russian politics but this is hard to resist. Vladimir Putin has now taken over leadership of the majority party in Russia, United Russia and get this...he was elected head of the party in an UNANIMOUS vote! And this was 600 party members! Can you imagine 600 Democrats or 600 Republicans agreeing unanimously on a single party leader? Haha.

Here's some from the story from the AP here:

Vladimir Putin accepted the leadership of the dominant United Russia party on Tuesday, securing his grip on power after he leaves the Kremlin and becomes prime minister next month.
The nearly 600 party delegates immediately approved his candidacy in an unanimous vote.
"I am ready to undertake additional responsibility and become the head of United Russia," Putin said at the party congress held across Red Square from the Kremlin.
Becoming head of United Russia enhances Putin's power base in the State Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, where the party holds a two-thirds majority. It could also serve to undercut the authority of Putin's hand-picked successor, Dmitry Medvedev.

The reason I put this story up is the fact that Putin has been successful in manipulating the Russian political system so he in essence will have more control than the new president. This reeks of Venezuela and Chavez. Now, it wouldn't be so worrisome if Putin hadn't been flexing his muscle recently and with Russian oil and natural gas making them a bit more of a force in Europe, Putin seems eager to try and bring Russia back to some sort of dominance. At the same time, I've never seen a country where the president is but a figurehead end up in a good spot - Putin will be able to pull the strings and not have to own up to the consequences and that is a recipe for disaster.

Putin Accepts Leadership of Party

Putin's decision to lead the party evokes memories of the Soviet era, when the Communist Party chief held the real power and the formal head of state was little more than a figurehead.
By becoming leader of United Russia, Putin has sent a clear signal that he will remain the boss, analysts said.
Political analyst Alexander Konovalov said Putin's decision was influenced by groups within the Kremlin who opposed his decision to leave the presidency.
"Here one can clearly see the struggle of Kremlin groups that would like to keep Putin in power under any pretext and are looking for a way to do it," Konovalov was quoted as saying in the newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta. "They were unable to force the president to violate the constitution and serve a third term. Now they are trying other options."

Speaking before Putin, Medvedev turned down an offer of membership in the party, saying the president should not be affiliated with any political party. He said he supported Putin taking the party leadership, which both he and Putin said would improve coordination between the government and parliament.
"Coordinated work of the government and the parliamentary majority will allow us to successfully solve tasks of economic development, improvement of health care and the education system and strengthening the security of the state," Putin said.
Putin has promised not to shift any presidential powers to the prime minister, who under the