Mexico Election - 7

The official tally came out today and Felipe Calderon was elected President by a narrow 243,000 votes. That amounted to six tenths of a percent difference with Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. But even after a careful verification process, as we thought AMLO (or MALO) says he does not like the result so he will contest it. In earlier posts I have commented about the process. I expect, if the courts are reasonable, they will uphold Mr. Calderon's victory. But AMLO counts on his ability to mount street demonstrations and that those will transform public opinion. I am relatively confident that the vast majority of the Mexican people will not stand for this showmanship.

Obviously the President-elect may want to think about strategies and programs which get to the crux of the issue raised in the sixth post on the election - namely how to broaden his appeal. Calderon has a long history in politics and a good set of ethics. So I think he is likely to be a good mix of practicality and values. At this point in Mexican history, that is exactly what the country needs, IMHO.

Calderon is not going to roll over the NYT quoted him this afternoon as saying "We are going to defend the votes, and I ask you all to be alert, because we are going to call on all of you to make sure these votes are not canceled, that they are not thrown the trash, and that no one tries to negate for caprice or for ambition what 41 million Mexicans have decided"