Putin Officially Running for Prez

Vladimir Putin has decided that he'd like to be Russia's top dog again, so his United Russia party today obliged him by formally nominating him to run for president in March's elections. Pooty-poot, who has relegated himself to the No. 2 prime minister job since 2008, has vowed to make handpicked successor and current president Dmitry Medvedev his new prime minister. The neat swap isn't going over well among Russians concerned with democracy, notes the AP, and could set Putin up to serve another 12 years. (More Russia stories.)