a fairly astute poster proposed that, rather than americans being mostly stupid, trump is a shrewd (sorry manlobbi!) politician with hidden genius playing hardball, much like others in u.s. history.
i thought, wow, maybe we got it wrong. maybe trump is good, but putin would be even better.
so i asked AI to list putin's accomplishments, with sources :

results:
Economic growth: Putin presided over years of solid economic growth, improving living standards for many Russians
.
Centralized governance: He restored central authority and unified the legal system across the country
.
Oil revenue management: Putin used increased oil revenues to improve the economy and standard of living
.
Tax reforms: He implemented liberal economic reforms, including a flat income tax of 13 percent
.
Poverty reduction: During Putin's first two terms, poverty in Russia reduced by more than half
.
Assertive foreign policy: Putin aimed to restore Russia's standing on the world stage
.
State control: He increased state control over key industries and media
.
Stability: Putin provided a sense of stability after the tumultuous 1990s

now if you throw in the 2 obvious things that AI missed, but MAGA cares about :
- duration of term as indicator of worthiness; 4 stints (and counting) as President , plus 2 as Prime Minister ; no brainer when comparing major 'wins' against trump who couldn't even beat biden.
- President Musk has some serious competition for wealth. even fox news can guess putin is sandbagging the amount of theft from gov coffers :
foxbusiness.com - Putins net worth rivals elon musk cobweb bank accounts assets hides full value expert says

america, it is clearly time to trade up. putin 2026 !