Even after the fraud some US officials wanted to keep Shevardnadze in power. There were sentimental ties, as well as the argument that direct US interference in regime change could play badly in central Asia and Azerbaijan, raising their rulers' suspicions and encouraging them to balance between Moscow and Washington..
Saakashvili is sure of election tomorrow, but what happens next is unclear. Will the new team in Tbilisi move towards a more confrontational anti-Russian nationalism, or will they understand that supporting Bush's policy of a new cold war in the Caucasus offers Georgia no benefit?
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