Alexei Navalny had everything that Putin didn’t have. Navalny was tall, Putin short; Navalny handsome, Putin not so much. Navalny had a fabulous wife; Putin was unsuccessful with his personal life. Navalny could talk to people from all walks of life and inspire them; Putin had to force or pay them to attend his rallies. Navalny was loved by everyone, particularly young Russians; Putin’s chief constituency was women, 64-plus, in small towns and villages.
What people don’t always realise, though, is that all that did not come naturally to Navalny. He worked so hard to be that person. I met him in 2004. After completing my PhD at Harvard, I returned to Moscow and taught political science at the university – the Higher School of Economics. At some point, I invited young leaders and activists of different democratic factions to my flat for a weekly supper – to discuss grassroots politics and collective action. These kids were in their early 20s, and they were constantly fighting with one another rather than with the Kremlin. Navalny was the oldest among them. My idea was that because we had oligarchical politics in Russia, it was vital for them to learn how to work together, to do canvassing. And that is precisely what we did. Navalny would go around knocking on doors with the others. And he was so natural – people of different ages, preoccupied with the burdens of their everyday life, listened to him, asked for his advice, and they trusted him. But he had a long way to go.
