> surely surely his supporters don't subscribe to at least the latter view there?
You must not have very many conservative friends on Facebook. "Russia didn't write the emails" has to be one of the most popular memes of the last 6 months.
I don't know any conservatives but every single leftist I know thinks that russophobia is at absolutely deranged levels, as a vehicle for Clinton apologism.
The idea that "Russia decided the election" is absurd, but repeated often enough, is starting to be taken as truth by those who find it palatable.
If Hillary Clinton didn't have such high unfavorables it wouldn't have been a contest. If Bernie hadn't siphoned off some of her support it wouldn't have been a contest. Russian meddling and Comey's last-minute maneuver definitely cost her the election, but only by swinging the vote less than 1% in a few key states.
I don't think Putin seriously believes he can control US elections and probably recognizes this as a one-off lucky break.
The whole point for him is the PR value: having Trump claim elections are rigged is pure PR gold for Putin. Having Trump claim protesters are paid Democratic shills (rather than real people who don't like him) is Putin cover. He gets to point at those words and say "see, it's the same everywhere". It gives Putin supporters cover to believe his lies and it takes the wind out of the sails of Putin's detractors.
My guess is Putin's original plan was to take advantage of Trump claiming he lost due to election rigging but we'll probably never know.
> If Hillary Clinton didn't have such high unfavorables it wouldn't have been a contest. If Bernie hadn't siphoned off some of her support it wouldn't have been a contest.
How about if Hillary simply picked Bernie as VP? Is there anyone here that thinks she wouldn't have won on that decision alone? Don't blame Bernie supporters (I am not one, to be clear), why should they walk a mile to Clinton's positions when Clinton herself won't even make the most modest concessions to their side?
Hillary was pro-war, only half-ass wanted a minimum wage hike, pro free trade agreements, pro fracking, and said Single Payer was never happening. I honestly don't understand why any liberal would have voted for her.
Right, I would have never voted for her, and not saying that she would have been any better with Sanders, but I think it's very likely she would have won.
>having Trump claim elections are rigged is pure PR gold for Putin
The majority of Dems I know saw the election as rigged too. The Dem primary was absolutely disgusting, and then of course CNN got caught giving debate questions to Hillary.
You must not have very many conservative friends on Facebook. "Russia didn't write the emails" has to be one of the most popular memes of the last 6 months.