Boris Nemtsov, the handsome young governor of Nizhny Novgorod province, strides through the car factory like a star.
Women blush and giggle when he stops to chat; burly welders grin when he shakes their hands.The tall, charismatic Nemtsov is one of Russia's most successful politicians, renowned as a visionary leader who turned this graceful, old city on the banks of the Volga River into a showcase for market reform.
But reform has become something of a dirty word in Russia, where the chaotic lurch toward capitalism has impoverished millions. A week before parliamentary elections, free marketeers seem in deep trouble nationwide.
How deep? Take a look at Nemtsov's gubernatorial campaign. One of Russia's most famous reformers isn't even running as one.
"The euphoria of the first democratic reforms is over," Mayor Ivan Sklarov said. "People expect something concrete."
That's just what Nemtsov talks to voters about: Concrete, in the form of the bridges, schools, hospitals, houses and roads that he's built in this sprawling province of 3.7 million people east of Moscow.
The latest polls give Nemtsov an approval rating of 62 percent, something any Moscow reformer would envy. He is expected to win without a runoff.
The secret of his success is simple. He's seen as a tough, pragmatic, energetic leader who delivers old-fashioned good government. Nemtsov, 36, has a can-do image.
The national politicians don't. For many people, Moscow is the heart of darkness, the source of the corruption, confusion and poverty engulfing Russia.
Consider Grigory Yavlinsky, whose reformist Yabloko party was one of the top vote-getters in Nizhny Novgorod in the 1993 parliamentary election.
When he campaigned last week at a local semiconductor plant, it looked like a dream audience for a Moscow egghead - smart, serious, politically savvy professionals. Yavlinsky, a pal of Nemtsov's and a presidential hopeful, was witty. He was pithy. He brimmed with ideas.
It didn't get him very far.
"You promised a lot the last time and you didn't deliver," one of his first questioners said. "Why should we vote for you?"
Polls indicate the people of this region will be ticket-splitting in Sunday's election. They'll vote heavily for Nemtsov in the governor's race. But in the parliamentary races, the resurgent, well-organized Communist Party's national slate could garner the most votes.