At Russia's Miss Constitution pageant, Kremlin is the winner

When her moment of glory came, Masha Fyodorova was draped in the Russian flag and handed the keys to a brand-new, pink-and-orange Mini Cooper. She strolled off the stage in a shower of confetti and sparklers, an economics student from the provinces reborn as the official paragon of patriotic womanhood.

The gathering Friday of B-list pop stars and hundreds of die-hard pro-Kremlin youth activists on the edge of Red Square was beauty pageant as patriotic ceremony, emblematic of today's sexed-up, nationalistic Russia.

In between trilling traditional songs extolling the Moscow scenery and strutting in their bathing suits, the blond from Rostov-on-Don and three other nubile finalists paused to answer questions about authority, state obligations and the role of the elite.

"Who is the only source of authority in the Russian Federation?" the announcer asked.

"The multiethnic people of the Russian Federation!" one of the women fired back.

Organized by the government and the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi, or Ours, the pageant was aimed at whipping up public enthusiasm for the constitution. The 15th anniversary of the post-Soviet constitution has come at a sensitive moment, as President Dmitry Medvedev, backed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, is pushing the first-ever amendments.

Among other changes, the amendments would lengthen the presidential term to six years from four. Putin, first as president and now as prime minister, has steadily centralized power and cracked down on freedoms. Many analysts believe that the amendments, now just a formality from being passed, are designed to give Putin and his allies an even stronger hold on power. They predict that Putin, who was forced from office by term limits this year, is laying the groundwork for a prolonged return to the presidency.

If so, no one here was complaining. Putin is wildly popular among Russia's youths, who credit the former KGB agent with restoring their country to its rightful wealth and power.