7-Feb-2012 - Ruling Party in Mexico Picks Woman as Candidate

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The candidate, Josefina Vázquez Mota, triumphed over two others in the primary of the conservative National Action Party, including a former cabinet minister who was said to be the first choice of President Felipe Calderón, who by law cannot seek a second six-year term. The stage is now set for the July 1 contest, which will be carried out in tumultuous times with a war against drug cartels that has cost more than 47,000 lives since 2006, worries that organized crime will interfere with the election and signs the country’s relatively stable economy may be slowing. The race is likely to be watched closely among policy makers in the United States for any sign of dialing back the deepening cooperation between the two countries in battling the drug cartels. So far no candidate has proposed lessening those ties, but all have promised, without many specifics, to reduce the violence without giving up the fight against drug gangs. Ms. Vázquez Mota, 51, will compete with two other major party candidates selected in December. Enrique Peña Nieto, 45, the former governor of Mexico State, is the front-runner in polls and is trying to return his beats by dre stuido ferrari headphone party, the centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party, known as the P.R.I., to power it lost in 2000 after ruling with an autocratic hand for most of the 20th century. Andrés Manuel López Obrador, 59, representing the leftist Democratic Revolutionary Party, lost a narrow race to Mr. Calderón in 2006 and is his party’s standard-bearer again. Ms. Vázquez Mota exulted in her victory, winning far more than the necessary votes to avoid a runoff and basking in the potential to become the first woman president here. “I am going to be the first woman president in history,’’ she said in a victory speech, using “presidenta,” the feminine form of the word. Large numbers of women could be seen at some polling places dr dre beats studio headphone red diamond and many analysts, including those with ties to the P.R.I., have long said she would pose a serious challenge to Mr. Peña Nieto, who despite some gaffes in recent weeks, maintains a commanding lead. “She has a good outreach to people outside the party,” said Andrew Selee, director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington. “She is likely to be able to give her party a new lease on life in the election.” Women voters have been playing a bigger role in recent presidential elections, leading many pundits to speculate Mexico is poised to follow other Latin American countries, including Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica and others, in electing a woman. Still, her association with Mr. Calderón — she, too, served in his cabinet as education secretary — and the drug war may prove a drag on her popularity, and the other contenders have their advantages. Mr. Lopez Obrador, while trailing in polls, still has a passionate base of supporters from his last run and Mr. Peña Nieto has a wide, deep political network — the P.R.I. controls 20 of 31 governors posts and many mayors as well — to draw from. His party also has far and away the most money and he is expected to get further mileage from his telegenic qualities and a perception that, however beats by dre studio limited edition blue headphone iron-fisted the party was, the country did not seem as bloody as it is now. Nevertheless, concerns have grown in both the United States and Mexico that the P.R.I. could bring a return of cozy, corrupt relationships between politicians and organized crime. Mr. Peña Nieto has called such insinuations a slur against the party, but Ms. Vázquez Mota on Sunday night was blunt in using those worries as a campaign theme. “We begin the path toward defeating Mexico's real adversary, who represents authoritarianism and the worst antidemocratic practice, who represents a return to corruption as a system and impunity as a sentence," she said. "That adversary is Peña Nieto and his party." Mr. Peña Nieto was more gracious. “Congratulations and welcome to the democratic contest,’’ he said in a Twitter message. “May it be for the good of Mexico.” Karla Zabludovsky contributed from Mexico City.

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7-Feb-2012 - Ruling Party in Mexico Picks Woman as Candidate

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The candidate, Josefina Vázquez Mota, triumphed over two others in the primary of the conservative National Action Party, including a former cabinet minister who was said to be the first choice of President Felipe Calderón, who by law cannot seek a second six-year term. The stage is now set for the July 1 contest, which will be carried out in tumultuous times with a war against drug cartels that has cost more than 47,000 lives since 2006, worries that organized crime will interfere with the election and signs the country’s relatively stable economy may be slowing. The race is likely to be watched closely among policy makers in the United States for any sign of dialing back the deepening cooperation between the two countries in battling the drug cartels. So far no candidate has proposed lessening those ties, but all have promised, without many specifics, to reduce the violence without Studio limited edition red diamond headphone from monster giving up the fight against drug gangs. Ms. Vázquez Mota, 51, will compete with two other major party candidates selected in December. Enrique Peña Nieto, 45, the former governor of Mexico State, is the front-runner in polls and is trying to return his party, the centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party, known as the P.R.I., to power it lost in 2000 after ruling with an autocratic hand for most of the 20th century. Andrés Manuel López Obrador, 59, representing the leftist Democratic Revolutionary Party, lost a narrow race to Mr. Calderón in 2006 and is his party’s standard-bearer again. Ms. Vázquez Mota exulted in her victory, winning far more than the necessary votes to avoid a runoff and basking in the potential to become the first woman president here. “I am going to be the first woman president in history,’’ she said in a victory speech, using “presidenta,” the feminine form of the word. Large numbers of women could be seen at some polling places and many analysts, including those with ties to the P.R.I., have long said she would pose a serious challenge to Mr. Peña Nieto, who despite some gaffes in recent weeks, maintains a commanding lead. “She has a good outreach to people outside the party,” said Andrew Selee, director of the beats by dre studio headphone purple Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington. “She is likely to be able to give her party a new lease on life in the election.” Women voters have been playing a bigger role in recent presidential elections, leading many pundits to speculate Mexico is poised to follow other Latin American countries, including Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica and others, in electing a woman. Still, her association with Mr. Calderón — she, too, served in his cabinet as education secretary — and the drug war may prove a drag on her popularity, and the other contenders have their advantages. Mr. Lopez Obrador, while trailing in polls, still has a passionate base of supporters from his last run and Mr. Peña Nieto has a wide, deep political network — the P.R.I. controls 20 of 31 governors posts and many mayors as well — to draw from. His party also has far and away the most money and he is expected to get further mileage from his telegenic qualities and a perception that, however iron-fisted the party was, the country did not seem as bloody as it is now. Nevertheless, concerns have grown in both the United States and Mexico that the P.R.I. could bring a return monster beats studio green limited edition headphone of cozy, corrupt relationships between politicians and organized crime. Mr. Peña Nieto has called such insinuations a slur against the party, but Ms. Vázquez Mota on Sunday night was blunt in using those worries as a campaign theme. “We begin the path toward defeating Mexico's real adversary, who represents authoritarianism and the worst antidemocratic practice, who represents a return to corruption as a system and impunity as a sentence," she said. "That adversary is Peña Nieto and his party." Mr. Peña Nieto was more gracious. “Congratulations and welcome to the democratic contest,’’ he said in a Twitter message. “May it be for the good of Mexico.” Karla Zabludovsky contributed from Mexico City.

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