Viva Conservatives!
It looks like conservatives rule . . . at least in Mexico.
In a country with so much desperate poverty, kudos to the people who decided that free markets, free trade and capitalism are the way of the future -- and rejected the same old leftist, big government, radical rhetoric that's been so disastrous for so many countries.
In a country with so much desperate poverty, kudos to the people who decided that free markets, free trade and capitalism are the way of the future -- and rejected the same old leftist, big government, radical rhetoric that's been so disastrous for so many countries.
posted by LadybugUSA at 3:35 PM
7 Comments:
"... Calderon had a lead of almost 400,000 votes over Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador with returns in from almost 98 percent of polling stations ..."
Sounds like almost all the votes HAVE been counted, Wrabkin. What's up with the attitude?
If I were in their shoes, I'd probably come to America, too. But I'd like to think I would do it legally.
But choosing free markets and capitalism has given Mexico an opportunity to change its future. By taking all the decisions out of the hands of government, and by giving individuals and businesses the incentive to improve themselves' Mexico's economy can be transformed into a vibrant, productive, and profitable one.
Then there will be less need to leave Mexico in order to be able to make a living.
Sadly, these changes don't take place overnight. But eventually, given the chance to improve itself, Mexico can rise above its current status.
Actually the real victory for Mexico is that the PRI candidate, Roberto Madrazo, is coming a distant third in the presidential race.
The PRI ruled over Mexico's politics for many, many years.
And, it needs to be said, it was a "socialist" party.
The interesting thing is that while the pro-market PAN party's cadidate, Felipe Calderon, is fairly likely to win the election, the "Alliance for the Welfare of all", a socialist coalition that exists apart from the PRI, polled a close second.
If you look at the results, you'll notice that a majority of Mexicans voted for a socialist party (either the new coalition or the PRI). Obviously the reason why the Conservatives won was because the leftist vote was split.
Had the election been using Instant-runoff voting, rather than a first-past-the-post system, the conservatives would have been slaughtered.
It is obvious that the pro-market PAN party is aware of this situation and that the only reason it is winning is due to this split in the socialist vote. Given the fact that many socialists who voted for the PRI will probably defect to the opposing coalition, the future of a PAN president is not so good.
Which means, of course, that PAN will probably tone down their pro-market rhetoric for political reasons.
Given the fact that Vicente Fox spent six years as a PAN president, you'd wonder why it is that a sizeable majority of Mexicans still voted for a socialist party.
In summary, therefore, a mechanical victory for the conservatives, but not a popular one.
According to results for the chamber of Deputies (the mexican version of the House of Congress), the following results are probable:
PAN (Conservatives): 33.7%
New leftist coaltion: 29.0%
IRP leftist coaltion: 27.6%
Which means that socialists control 56.6% of the Chamber.
In the Senate, the following results are probable:
PAN (Conservatives): 34.1%
New leftist coalition: 29.8%
IRP leftist coalition: 27.4%
Which gives the socialists 57.2% of the Senate.
Oh.. and in the interests of honesty and openness it needs to be pointed out that the PRI, which dominated Mexican politics and is socialist in nature, was a corrupt regime.
PAN's victory six years ago with Vicente Fox has helped to marginalize the PRI.
But, it seems, many Mexicans who were sick of the PRI but still socialist have managed to form an effective coalition in the "Alliance for the Welfare of all".
In other words, a loss for corruption and graft, a victory for leftist ideology.
It also needs to be pointed out that the minor parties (those with less than 5% of the vote) are all socialist in one form or another too.
Excellent posts, Salient. It looks like there's now a narrow chance for free market policies to get enacted and take root in Mexico.
Here's hoping those policies get a chance and prove beneficial to the Mexican people.
Well, from what I understand, NAFTA was agreed upon by the socialist PRI back in the 1990s.
I suppose the question is - what sort of socialism is being promoted in Mexico?
I think Republicans should not be too keen in linking their ideologies to PAN, and Democrats should be careful about associating themselves with PRI and that alliance.
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