Medvedev: a loyal servant who has always marched in lockstep with Putin

Dmitry Medvedev's career so far depicts a dedicated aide who has always marched in lockstep with Vladimir Putin.

Consequently, Russia's election campaign _ drained of suspense due to the obvious outcome _ was laced with suspicion that Medvedev, who wants to name the outgoing president as his prime minister, will still take orders from Putin despite outranking him.

Putin, 55, and Medvedev, 42, first worked together for a former law professor who became head of the city council in Leningrad _ now St. Petersburg _ in 1990.

Putin brought Medvedev to Moscow in 1999, shortly before Boris Yeltsin stepped down and handed him the presidency. Medvedev …