Mexican poll points to big win for PRI's Pena Nieto

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Mexican poll points to big win for PRI's Pena Nieto

By Anahi Rama

MEXICO CITY | Tue Apr 17, 2012 5:57pm EDT

(Reuters) - Mexico's presidential front-runner, Enrique Pena Nieto, has extended his lead and the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) he represents could gain an absolute majority in the lower house of congress, a survey showed.

Consulta Mitofsky said on Tuesday its latest opinion poll for the July 1 presidential vote showed Pena Nieto extending his big lead with 40.2 percent support, up 1.1 percentage point from the polling firm's survey published on March 13.

He was followed by Josefina Vazquez Mota, of the ruling National Action Party (PAN), at 22.6 percent. Her support dipped by 0.9 percentage point from the previous poll.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/17/us-mexico-election-idUSBRE83G1IG20120417

[Judi Lynn]

1. Super important election in July, since the President serves 6 years at a critical time. Thanks. n/t

[Judi Lynn]

2. For the 2nd day in a row, articles have referred to Pena Nieto as "telegenic."

Today the media added "alpha male," as well. Wonder who the winner would be, with the media using words like this in ordinary "news" coverage! Sheesh.


Analysis: Mexican women voters back "alpha male" over female rival
Anahi Rama
Reuters
1:54 p.m. EDT, April 20, 2012

GUADALAJARA, Mexico (Reuters) - Women shout and jostle to get close to Enrique Pena Nieto, mob him for kisses or a hug, and snap photographs with the kind of excitement more commonly reserved for teenage heartthrobs than Mexican presidential candidates.

The 45-year-old Pena Nieto, candidate for the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), is favorite to win Mexico's July 1 presidential election, which for the first time will feature a woman as one of Mexico's main contenders.

Women make up a majority of eligible voters, but despite being traditionally sidelined in Mexican politics, they have failed to warm to the only female candidate - Josefina Vazquez Mota of President Felipe Calderon's conservative National Action Party, or PAN.

In this strongly Roman Catholic nation, support for the petite 51-year-old mother of three lags far behind that for the telegenic Pena Nieto, who cheated on his first wife and had two children out of wedlock, later marrying a soap-opera star.

More:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/sns-rt-us-mexico-election-womenbre83j189-20120420,0,817116.story

[Judi Lynn]

3. Mexico's conservatives bet on woman presidential hopeful

Mexico's conservatives bet on woman presidential hopeful
Reuters

4:19 p.m. EDT, April 20, 2012

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's ruling conservatives took a bold step by becoming the first major party to nominate a woman presidential candidate, but Josefina Vazquez Mota is struggling to close a big gap with the front-runner, hamstrung by internal party divisions.

Three weeks into a compressed campaign season before the July 1 vote, Vazquez Mota trails Enrique Pena Nieto from the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, by double digits in most opinion polls.

Vazquez Mota's National Action Party, or PAN, is placing its hopes in the petite 51-year-old politician, who served as President Felipe Calderon's education minister before becoming the party's leader in the lower house of congress.

She won popular support from grassroots voters to beat out the president's perceived favorite - former finance minister Ernesto Cordero - in a February primary vote, and is trying to overcome infighting to unify the party behind her.

More:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/sns-rt-us-mexico-election-profile-vazquezmotabre83j1fh-20120420,0,7746286.story