Gorbachev Candidacy Gets Cold Shoulder

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev declared Friday that he will run for the Russian presidency, insisting he could win as the leader of a democratic coalition despite polls indicating he is deeply unpopular.

Having toyed publicly with the idea of a comeback since at least mid-1993, Gorbachev’s announcement Friday was no surprise.

Perhaps mindful of Gorbachev’s popularity ratings of less than 1 percent in the polls, Izvestia, the capital’s leading newspaper, ignored the announcement altogether. Friday’s evening news broadcasts gave it short shrift.