The candidate backed by Mikhail Gorbachev for President of the Russian Republic , Russian Aleksandr ##ov , withdrew from the race today , strengthening the campaign of Boris Yeltsin , the populist who has repeatedly clashed with Gorbachev . Two other men remained in the race but the race appeared to be between Yeltsin and Vlasov . Earlier , Yeltsin delivered a speech pledging to defend the republic from meddling by the national Soviet government but not from clashing with it . Gorbachev holds the posts of President of the USSR and General Secretary of the Russian Communist Party , the two most powerful jobs in the Soviet Union .
The candidate backed by Mikhail Gorbachev for President of the Russian Republic, Russian Aleksandr Vlasov, withdrew from the race today, strengthening the campaign of Boris Yeltsin, the populist who has repeatedly clashed with Gorbachev. Two other men remained in the race but the contest appeared to be between Yeltsin and Vlasov. Earlier, Yeltsin delivered a speech pledging to defend the republic from meddling by the national Soviet government but refrained from clashing with Gorbachev. Gorbachev holds the posts of President of the USSR and General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, the two most powerful jobs in the Soviet Union.