Since winning re-election in 1996, Boris Yeltsin has been on a two-year losing streak.
His shaky health has become a national obsession and keeps him away from the Kremlin for days, and sometimes weeks, at a time.The economy is suffering through its worst breakdown in the post-Soviet era, but he rarely raises the subject and hasn't even hinted at a recovery plan.
Even if he did, a growing band of critics argues, he's too weak physically and politically to launch any ambitious reforms before his term ends in 2000.
Always eager to show he's still in charge, Yeltsin has fired the entire government twice this year. But to what end? The new government, led by Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, is a mishmash of politicians from various groups who are struggling to put together a coherent economic program.
Yeltsin, 67, brushes aside worries about his health and says there is no chance he will quit before his term ends. The Russian constitution makes impeachment an unlikely option, yet the clamor for Yeltsin's resignation is louder than it's ever been.
"Every one of his public events is painful to watch," said Andrei Piontkovsky, a political analyst and harsh critic of the president. "He's out of touch. The state of his health and the state of mind are deplorable."
Several leading Russian newspapers have urged Yeltsin to step down. They freely speculate about whether he has Alzheimer's disease, or a return of heart problems that necessitated quintuple bypass surgery two years ago.
Yeltsin's public approval rating is in the single digits, but the president's hard-line foes have had difficulty turning this disenchantment into mass support.
Protests around the country on Oct. 7 drew about 1 million marchers, but the crowds were much smaller than predicted and have not resulted in any sustained labor unrest.
Still, the president is losing support from traditionally friendly camps.