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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | January 2006 
Fierce Electoral Kickoff in Mexico
 Prensa Latina
| | Local policemen stand guard near a rally of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, presidential candidate of Mexico's left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), in the southern Mexican town of Metlatonoc January 19, 2006. Obrador has put poverty at the heart of a presidential campaign in Mexico, where a fifth of the population cannot afford to eat properly but a small elite enjoys fabulous wealth. He promises to give priority to the poor if he wins the July 2 election. (Reuters/Daniel Aguilar) |
Mexico - Strained activity by main presidential candidates marked the first two days of the campaign for the July 2 elections in Mexico.
Like a race against time, nominees opened the electoral campaign Thursday seeking to sway voters with recorded messages and political rallies.
Those activities coincided with the publication of two polls that gave a clear lead to Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador over his closest rivals.
Lopez Obrador is running with the "Por el bien de todos" (For the Good of All) Coalition, made up of his Democratic Revolution, Labor and the Convergence for Democracy parties.
The leftist front-candidate began the campaign with his own television show - a first in Mexican politics - and a campaign rally in remote Metlatonoc, the poorest town in all of Mexico.
Meanwhile, ruling National Action Party hopeful Felipe Calderon was the one who opened the race by presenting radio and TV spots a few minutes after midnight following a Christmas truce ordered by the Federal Electoral Institute.
Latest surveys place him on a firm second place as campaigning begins over Roberto Madrazo, candidate for the Alliance for Mexico, made up of the historical Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Green Party.
Mitosfsky Poll Shows López Obrador Ahead
Wire services
Andrés Manuel López Obrador has increased his lead over rivals, according to a poll by Consulta Mitofsky.
López Obrador, of the PRD, led the nationwide poll with 38.7 percent of potential voters saying they would choose him if elections were held today. The election is in July.
Felipe Calderón, of the PAN, placed second with 31 percent. Roberto Madrazo of the PRI placed third in the poll with 29.2 percent.
López Obrador, 52, is increasing his opinion poll lead, which had narrowed after he stepped down as mayor of Mexico´s capital in July. The rebound reflects López Obrador´s success at luring voters away from other parties, said George Grayson, a professor of government at the college of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
"I suspect you have migration of PRI members to López Obrador," Grayson said in a telephone interview.
In a November Mitofsky poll, López Obrador led with 34.8 percent of the intended vote, after eliminating undecided participants, compared with 30.4 percent who said they would choose Madrazo. Calderón placed third with 28.8 percent.
The nationwide poll of 1,000 residents taken between Jan. 12 and Jan. 16 has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent. |
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