Often portrayed in the Russian press as a demagogue and a buffoon, Vladimir Wolfovich Zhirinovsky, 50, must nevertheless be taken seriously. Underneath the bombast and near-hysteria lies a rather cunning politician backed by the apparatus of the oddly named Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LPDR). True, Zhirinovsky once threatened to blow radioactive waste into the Baltic states using giant fans, but he is a nationally recognized figure with a populist's eye for what makes the average voter tick. In 1991, Zhirinovsky took eight percent of the vote in the presidential election, and in the 1993 parliamentary elections, his LPDR captured 64 seats in the State Duma, more than any other party. Zhirinovsky recognized strains of xenophobia and nostalgia in the Russian electorate, and the LPDR astutely shaped its campaign accordingly. Zhirinovsky's extremist reputation makes him a long-shot candidate for the upcoming June vote, however. Now that Communist Party Chairman Gennady Zyuganov has arrived on the scene with a more measured nationalism, he seems a more realistic candidate. Zhirinovsky, catapaulted to prominence by the protest vote is unlikely to turn the electorate's general frustration into a presdential mandate this summer. --Terence Nelan