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MOSCOW-Vladimir Putin's party won more than 60 percent of the vote with nearly half of precincts counted Sunday in a parliamentary election that could pave the way for him to remain the country's leader even after he steps down as president.The vote followed a tense Kremlin campaign that relied on a combination of persuasion and intimidation to ensure victory for Putin's United Russia party.With ballots from 47.1 percent of precincts counted, United Russia was leading with 63.2 percent, while the Communists-the only opposition party to win seats-trailed with 11.5 percent, the Central Election Commission said. Exit polls seemed to corroborate the early results.The Kremlin has portrayed the election as a plebiscite on Putin's nearly eight years as president-with the promise that a major victory would allow him somehow to remain the country's leader after his second term ends next year.Putin is constitutionally prohibited from running for a third consecutive term, but he clearly wants to stay in power. A movement has sprung up in recent weeks to urge him to become a "national leader," though what duties and powers that would entail are unclear.As in the days of Noah...
