If Hillary Clinton had just announced her candidacy to run for president in Russia, rather than in America, she'd already be in deep trouble — just because of the video she made for the occasion.
To an American, her feel-good YouTube clip might look like a bland and insincere attempt to touch base with all the main voter groups, or a firm promise to look after the interests of the middle class, made in a hip format.
Russian election watchdogs, however, would cry foul from the first seconds. "According to Russia's 'law' on 'elections,' Hillary would have already been disqualified," tweeted Leonid Volkov, who ran opposition activist Alexei Navalny's inspired, but unsuccessful 2013 campaign for election as mayor of Moscow. Her campaign would violate Article 48, Part 6 of Russia's Federal Law on the Basic Guarantees of the Election — and Referendum — Related Rights of the Citizens of the Russian Federation.