Then I said, 'I shall die in my own house, I shall number my days as the sand.

Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.

Merkel has acute political antennae, and her response struck a deep chord with popular sentiment.

Enter Medvedev. His Internet surfing, compassionate, and generally liberal image helps recruit a key constituency those beyond the reach of Putin himself to the Putin plan.