Mexicans choose between right and left

Associated Press via Yahoo ^ | 07/02/06 | By Traci Karl,, Associated Press Writer

[garbageseeker]

MEXICO CITY - Mexicans voted Sunday in a tight presidential race to decide whether their country becomes the latest Latin American nation to move to the left, choosing between a shopkeeper's son promising to save the poor and a conservative calling his rival's free-spending populism dangerous.

The campaign, which exposed Mexico's painful class divisions, was the first since Vicente Fox's stunning victory six years ago ended 71 years of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.

Polls predicted a close race between conservative Felipe Calderon, 43, of Fox's National Action Party, and leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, 52, a former Mexico City mayor from the Democratic Revolution Party. The PRI's Roberto Madrazo, 53, was running a distant third, ahead of two minor candidates.

All three candidates promised to improve relations with the United States while opposing increased border security measures unpopular in Mexico.

More than 24,000 observers were monitoring the vote, which also will determine three governors, Mexico City's mayor, and both houses of Congress. The congressional races are key, determining whether the next president will face the same battle Fox did in trying to push through reforms.

Exit polls by the two major Mexican television networks showed Marcelo Ebrard of Lopez Obrador's party easily winning the Mexico City mayor's race, and Calderon's party holding on to Fox's home state of Guanajuato and the western state of Jalisco, where the race had been expected to be tighter.

In the third governor's race, Morelos, one poll showed Calderon's party slightly ahead, while the other said it was too close to call.

Voters waited in long lines during the day, some complaining that there weren't enough ballots. One group even briefly blocked a major Mexico City thoroughfare in frustration at being turned away. Several polling centers in southern Oaxaca state, the scene of violent clashes last month, did not open because of security concerns.

"We have not seen widespread problems, but we've seen a lot of confusion," said Ted Lewis, who was coordinating a team of 25 observers from the San Francisco-based Global Exchange.

In neighboring Guerrero state, two poll workers were shot to death before the polls opened, according to Lopez Obrador's party. Electoral officials said they were investigating, but the killings appeared unrelated to the vote.

Officials hoped to announce a new president a few hours after the last poll closed at 9 p.m. EDT, based on a quick count. But they cautioned they would wait if no candidate had a strong enough lead.

After a six-month campaign marked by mudslinging and a polarized electorate, Mexicans greeted Sunday's vote with relief. "Finally, a decision!" read the front-page headline in the Reforma newspaper.

Many polling stations were late in setting up, forcing voters to wait more than an hour before casting their ballots.

Carolina Nougue, 35, a perfume factory manager, sat frustrated outside a poll in an upscale Mexico City neighborhood. Nougue, who reluctantly voted for Calderon, described herself as a leftist but said she worried Lopez Obrador would govern like radical Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, and was turned off by his pledge to put the poor first.

"The division isn't between the rich and the poor," she said. "It's between the ignorant people and those who think."

In Mexico City's Nezahualcoyotl slum, polls were delayed by flooding from a powerful hailstorm Saturday night. Juana Velasquez, 63, and other residents spent the morning bailing water from their homes before voting.

"Every year, it's the same. You just vote for someone who doesn't do anything," said Velasquez, who was casting a protest vote for Roberto Campa of the minor New Alliance Party.

Others simply refused to take part.

"We aren't going to vote," said protester Maria del Carmen, a 24-year-old student marching down Mexico City's Reforma Avenue with Zapatista rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos and hundreds of supporters. "We don't believe in the system, and we are going to show our strength."

Early riser Lopez Obrador, dressed in a brown leather jacket, was the first candidate to cast his ballot, and had to wait nearly an hour before volunteers were ready.

"We did our part," he said. "We are going to wait to see what the people of Mexico decide."

During his campaign, Lopez Obrador accused Calderon of catering to the rich and promised that he would govern for Mexico's 50 million poor. Many followed his message like a religion, crowning him with flowers at rallies and plastering cars with his slogan: "Smile. We are going to win."

Calderon has warned that Lopez Obrador's proposals, including handouts for the elderly and poor, would bankrupt the nation. Wearing a suit and tie, he showed his right palm before voting in Mexico City, a reference to his "clean hands" campaign slogan.

"It has been a tense, competitive campaign," he said. "Tomorrow, we have to start a new era of reconciliation."

Madrazo has painted himself as the alternative to the "radical left and intolerant right" — but many have questioned how long his party, which has suffered infighting and defections, would survive past the election.

Mexican law limits presidents to one term, and Fox plans to retire to his ranch in December after his successor is sworn in.

On Sunday, which happened to be his 64th birthday, Fox gave an ink-stained thumbs-up to prove he voted and said: "I know that there are no Mexicans who want to go against democracy."

About 71 million of Mexico's 103 million people were eligible to vote.

The estimated 11 million Mexicans living in the United States were allowed to vote from abroad for the first time, but the 32,632 ballots they cast weren't likely to make much of a difference.

Thousands who missed out on the new mail-in vote — including farm workers and construction laborers living in California — traveled to Mexican border cities on Sunday to cast their ballots at polling stations.

[Iscool]

No I am saying that you boderbots are cheering on a Marxist.

I am...For 2 reasons...Maybe the commie will build some Mexican hospitals with the scores of billions Mexico gets from their oil and some of the illegals will stay home...

And 2, it's time to quit pretending Mexico is our friend...With a commie leader, we don't have to petend they are our friends while they put the screws to us....

And 3...Maybe they'll take back Mexico if we beg them hard enough...

[Dane]

PAN is probably RINO using FR's gauge. That's a whole lot better than a chavez clone.

[Texasforever]

Hell I knew you would. No need to explain.

[freedumb2003]

PAN is probably RINO using FR's gauge. That's a whole lot better than a chavez clone.

OMG! Dane, you and I agree on something! Wow -- mark this post down! :)

[Dane]

OMG! Dane, you and I agree on something! Wow -- mark this post down! :)

LOL! :)

[VeniVidiVici]

Mexico is run by socialists, and will continue to be no matter who wins.

The comment earlier that it really doesn't matter who wins is dead-on. Corruption is endemic down there. The only difference is the amount by which those in power line their pockets.

The BS will continue to flow north.

[I got the rope]

The only way Mexico is going to clean up it's act is if the people do it themselves.

They need a "2nd amendment."

[fantom]

Borderbot. Thats funny . This shows you how bright the Bushbots are. They can't even come up with their own insults. You may be right about the commie . He has said he wants to close the border. Maybe the next flood of illegals will be Drs. lawyers . bankers etc. Let them choke off the oil. We will finally get off our asses and drill our own. Or maybe we can ship some from Iraq . Borderbots , very clever.

[A CA Guy]

Boy have you got Mexico wrong.

The drug lords control the country, and they allow the people running to do so and they are not about to allow a functional Mexican government.

[mjolnir]

Absolutely correct!

Many Americans just don't relize how lucky we are to live in as conservative a nation as we do. Most of the rest of the world is, in comparison to us, well along the the road to statist serfdom.

South of our border, Fox is absolutely HATED by the basically everyone left of the Latin American center. Why? He's hated because they think he's a puppet of George W. Bush, that he supports the United States too much! I was just talking to a South American friend of mine-- naturally she thinks Fox is the worst Mexican president ever.

Well, actually he's the best. Make no mistake, there is a HUGE difference between the PRI and the PAN. The reason that Fox has not been able to reform Mexico more by privatizing it industries and so on is largely becuase the PRI spent a century accruing power and it still has more than enough to stymie him.

We do NOT need the Red Ken Livingston of Mexico City becoming president!

[garbageseeker]

Mexico is a lost cause. No matter which government is installed, the corruption will continue(in local state and federal government),a large disparity between the very rich who take the oil money and the poor and uneducated who live in slums,the drug barons will control the border regions with assistance of the Mexican military and police,and the persistent poverty will continue. The only solution is to build a very tall wall with razor sharp barbed wire along the border.

[mjolnir]

And Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is well to the left of the PRI, which is well to the left of our own beloved Democrats.

Lintening to the ABC news radio breaks--- the extent to which the MSM supports Obrador shouldn't amaze me, but it does. "No enemies on the left" is still in effect, I guess.

[freedumb2003]

The only solution is to build a very tall wall with razor sharp barbed wire along the border.

As Dane has pointed out, that only solves a part of the illegal alien problem.

We are intertwined with Mexico economically. It is like having something intertwined with your spinal cord. Surgery is impossible. Working with the new will require thoughtful strategy and tactics. We will have to make it clear to WHOEVER comes in that we are no longer their povery safety-valve (and make it so), since that is a large part of Mexico's defacto economic policy.

But to just say "close the door" is naive at best (don't ask what it is at worst).

[garbageseeker]

Closing the door will work.

[freedumb2003]

Closing the door will work.

As I have said, demonstrating complete ignorance is NOT an FR value.

But since you are so dard smart, please explain the mechanics of cutting Mexico off. I hope you start with a baseline of our current interrelationships, the importance Zedillo had in economic policy, Fox's wins and losses and why as well as where NAFTA works and doesn't.

I can speak to all of these and more. You had better be able to before your "opinion" is seen as just the ranting of a fool.

[Iscool]

Boy have you got Mexico wrong.

That could very well be...

But with Fox in charge in the south and Bush in charge in the U.S., our borders are wide open and it's beens said that more drugs cross our border now than at any other time in history...

So I can't say I know what will work (in Mexico) but it's real obvious what doesn't work right now...And it's time for a change...

[BillyBoy]

>> Fox did more than you think. The forces he was up against were unbeleivable. Between the 71 year long patronage system set up by the PRI, the PRI deadlock in the Senate and eceonomic momentum it was amazing he was able to get done what he was able to get done. Inside of Mexico, Obrador has openly admired Hugo Chavez and told peolle that Chavez is right on his treatment of the USA. And the PRI will restore what little insitutional corruption Fox was able to weed out. Trust me we want the PAN more than the PRI or the PRD (much less the commie PT). <<

First off, it was the "liberal" PRI that outlawed abortion is Mexico and who has the only member of parliment calling on Mexico to stop illegal immigration and keep their people home. The PRI is not as liberal as they were made out to be, they stand for whatever idealogy will keep them in power at that given time. In fact the opposition leader to Fox in the Mexican congress was a Zell Miller type Democrat.

Second, you say the Obrador boogeyman admires marxists and is kahoots with them. Well, the "conservative" President of Mexico has been appointing hard core socialists to positions all over the country, many times in oppoistion to his OWN party. The "conservative" President appointed openly marxist Jorge Castañeda to a top position in his cabinent. There is NO EXCUSE for that -- it would be like Bush decided to make Ralph Nader his Secretary of Commerce. Why don't you condemn Fox for having marxists run HIS government? Whether PAN or PNR is in charge, the government cozy up to marxists.

Since Vicente Fox is basically the Mexican version of a RINO, he's clashed with own party in legislature on many occassions over simple conservative matters. Vicente Fox was elected president running under the banner of a supposely "religious right" party and yet he married his younger press secretary immedaitely afterwards without annuling his first marriage, a slap in the face to the Catholic church that earned rebukes from Mexican bishops.

The "conservative" president of Mexico has opposed us on the Iraq war, in the UN, on the enviroment, basically ever issue under the sun. The "conservative" government of Mexico continues to recoginize Castro. The "pro-life" Vicente Fox has never once complained about the abortion on demand policy in the U.S. or called on mexicans to oppose illegal abortion yet he loves to denounce our capital punishment laws at every turn (obviously speaking out for the "rights" vicious murderers is more important for him than innocent unborn babies). He's said horrible criminal U.S. politicians like Gray Davis and George Ryan are heros and role models.

If you can think of one issue where the "conservative" leader of Mexico disagrees with the "leftists" in Mexico, I'd love to hear it. I think he's actually governed to the LEFT of the last PRI government. If I was James Carville, I'd be kicking myself for opposing Fox since he's stood with me on every major issue.

The "conserative" President of Mexico is "conservative" in the sence that Linc Chafee and Mike Bloomberg are "conservative". He was elected with expectations to be the Mexican Ronald Reagan and instead he's been the Mexican Bill Clinton -- and he's even ADMITTED his policies are more like Clinton than Bush.

There is no execuse for Vicente Fox cheerleadering for leftist garbage and appointing socialists all over HIS government. The PRI doesn't have a majority in either house. Vicente Fox governs as a leftist because he is one.

No matter who wins, we lose. The political parties in Mexico summerized:

PRI

PAN

PNR

[BillyBoy]

>> Fox did more than you think. The forces he was up against were unbeleivable. Between the 71 year long patronage system set up by the PRI, the PRI deadlock in the Senate and eceonomic momentum it was amazing he was able to get done what he was able to get done. Inside of Mexico, Obrador has openly admired Hugo Chavez and told peolle that Chavez is right on his treatment of the USA. And the PRI will restore what little insitutional corruption Fox was able to weed out. Trust me we want the PAN more than the PRI or the PRD (much less the commie PT). <<

First off, it was the "liberal" PRI that outlawed abortion is Mexico and who has the only member of Parliament calling on Mexico to stop illegal immigration and keep their people home. The PRI is not as liberal as they were made out to be, they stand for whatever ideology will keep them in power at that given time. In fact the opposition leader to Fox in the Mexican congress was a Zell Miller type Democrat.

Second, you say the Obrador boogeyman admires marxists and is kahoots with them. Well, the "conservative" President of Mexico has been appointing hard core socialists to positions all over the country, many times in oppoistion to his OWN party. The "conservative" President appointed openly Marxist Jorge Castañeda to a top position in his cabinet. There is NO EXCUSE for that -- it would be like Bush decided to make Ralph Nader his Secretary of Commerce. Why don't you condemn Fox for having Marxists run HIS government? Whether PAN or PNR is in charge, the government cozy up to Marxists.

Since Vicente Fox is basically the Mexican version of a RINO, he's clashed with own party in legislature on many occasions over simple conservative matters. Vicente Fox was elected president running under the banner of a supposedly "religious right" party and yet he married his younger press secretary immediately afterwards without annulling his first marriage, a slap in the face to the Catholic church that earned rebukes from Mexican bishops.

The "conservative" president of Mexico has opposed us on the Iraq war, in the UN, on the environment, basically ever issue under the sun. The "conservative" government of Mexico continues to recognize Castro. The "pro-life" Vicente Fox has never once complained about the abortion on demand policy in the U.S. or called on Mexicans to oppose illegal abortion yet he loves to denounce our capital punishment laws at every turn (obviously speaking out for the "rights" vicious murderers is more important for him than innocent unborn babies). He's said horrible criminal U.S. politicians like Gray Davis and George Ryan are heros and role models.

If you can think of one issue where the "conservative" leader of Mexico disagrees with the "leftists" in Mexico, I'd love to hear it. I think he's actually governed to the LEFT of the last PRI government. If I was James Carville, I'd be kicking myself for opposing Fox since he's stood with me on every major issue.

The "conservative" President of Mexico is "conservative" in the sense that Linc Chafee and Mike Bloomberg are "conservative". He was elected with expectations to be the Mexican Ronald Reagan and instead he's been the Mexican Bill Clinton -- and he's even ADMITTED his policies are more like Clinton than Bush.

There is no excuse for Vicente Fox cheerleadering for leftist garbage and appointing socialists all over HIS government. The PRI doesn't have a majority in either house. Vicente Fox governs as a leftist because he is one.

No matter who wins, we lose. The political parties in Mexico summerized:

PRI

PAN

PNR

[ArmstedFragg]

Here's a results source from the Mexican automated system.

http://www.elnorte.com/

Currently 17.68% in

Calderon 39.10 percent

Obrador 35.39 percent

Madrazo 18.84 percent

[stephenjohnbanker]

""Since Vicente Fox is basically the Mexican version of a RINO""

No wonder Bush loves him.