“Joining the European Union!”, “Peace in the Donbass!”, “Dollar at 10 hryvnia!” - almost certainly these slogans will make the showman and comedian Vladimir Zelensky the president of Ukraine.

All anything, but these promises were made not by the leader of the current race, but by the current head of state, Petro Poroshenko. He also gave Zelensky a head start, earning 50% of anti-rating following the results of his five-year leadership and becoming another example of a change in soap, which occurred at the cost of a “Maidan” and many human victims.

In my opinion, the Zelensky phenomenon is a combination of several factors: personal popularity and fashion for populism, the desire for change at any cost and the next people's frustration, and most importantly - the hope of irrational relief from troubles. Political technologists Vladimir Alexandrovich, who cannot be denied professionalism, managed not to spoil anything and converted it to 5.7 million votes in the first round, which helped Zelensky to double the current president.

The uniqueness of the situation lies in the fact that the best strategy between the first and second round is to minimize the presence of Zelensky at the discussion platforms. Poroshenko can say as much as he wants that he drew conclusions from the signal received from the citizens of Ukraine, who preferred him a political nounea without experience, but he (so far) has not figured out how to defeat the rejection of the people, the cause of which he himself is.

Oligarch Igor Kolomoisky, who, according to Poroshenko, is a puppeteer who pulls Zelensky over the strings, assures that the series “The Servant of the People” —the political teleutope in three seasons — was coined by Zelensky personally. In any case, the amazing transformation of Vasily Goloborodko, a simple and angry history teacher, into the President of Ukraine, with (attention!) Minimal personal effort, became a hit with Ukrainian television.

Goloborodko’s angry monologue, which, without a mat, boils down to the fact that the sum does not change from changing places, can be sold for export to any country, like the “Voice” show - so much of its message is universal. When a modest, charming and honest person explodes and shouts in a familiar hoarse voice “Well, how much is possible!”, “Steal!” And “Zadolbalo!”, This arouses approval. Especially if the standard of living in your country over the past five years has fallen by half.

The series “Servant of the People” is a political fantasy, for watching which voters can distract from the pressing problems, find a hero for themselves and enjoy the landings of corrupt officials.

What is wrong with the fact that illusion takes the form of real life, when instead of the president from TV screens you are congratulated (and at the same time announces the nomination for the presidency) that same history teacher, parodist of vicious politicians and just a good person Vladimir Zelensky?

As one of the main goals as president, Zelensky declares the unification of the people of Ukraine. Surprisingly, in this matter too it is more convenient for him to remain a virtual candidate without taking a clear position. Once, the lumpens in Kiev had already forced the forcible Ukrainization of a large part of their population, and it was naive to think that there were fewer nationalists in the country. This means that Vladimir Zelensky can please all voters only when he allows the people to fill in the gaps in their political position.

In October 2003, Harvard University student Mark Zuckerberg wrote code for the Facemash Internet site, where users could choose from two photos of people who liked them more. Like emotional impulse, which became the engine of this resource, has become a fundamental tool of the philosophy of Facebook.

Also in 2003, Vladimir Zelensky and Kvartal 95 studio left KVN and a year later the first independent show of the group, based on political satire, became the most popular comedy show in the country. The future presidential candidate of Ukraine collected likes of the audience, producing and filming shows, TV shows and movies that worked for his personal recognition.

Next Sunday, citizens of Ukraine will see two photos on the ballot, one of which will be a gray-haired oligarch (267 thousand followers on Instagram), and on the other a smiling and charming young man (3.8 million followers on Instagram). And all that Zelensky’s team asks for them is to put an “I like” badge.

The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.