Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump looks a lot Russian President Vladimir Putin in the way he promises to restore the country to its past glory while offering few specifics, Washington Post columnist
David Ignatius says.
"Donald Trump is in some respects an American version of Putin," Ignatius writes.
"Brash self-confidence" propels such politicians, he says. "They don't explain the mundane details of national revival; they just assert it."
Putin put forth his vision for Russian revival in a December 1999 speech.
"Russia has [just] experienced one of the most difficult periods in its many centuries of history," Putin said. "She faces the real danger of becoming not just a second- but even a third-tier country."
Trump, Ignatius said, is more "nakedly self-promoting" than Putin, who appears to enjoy being seen by the media as "an uncouth lout and rabble-rouser.... "His blunt comments speak to a nation that’s sick of political double-talk."
Ignatius said that, ultimately, the Putin routine won't last long.
"[T]he bullying authoritarian personality — the Putin style — usually doesn’t work here," he said. "This summer has been an exception, but history suggests that it won’t last."
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