Right wing commentary on world politics from a man on a mission to prove that Conservatism transcends national boundaries. Thoughtful comments from people of all political persuasions are welcome and encouraged. Contact the blogger at elephantman.conservaglobe@gmail.com.

Monday, July 10, 2006

PERSON OF THE WEEK - July 2-8, 2006

Normally, I give this award to people who WIN elections. However, the theatrics of the runner up in Mexico's presidential election were enough overshadow the victory of conservative Felipe Calderon. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (popularly known as AMLO) was bested by Calderon in two separate vote counts, but he still refuses to concede defeat. Instead, the socialist mayor of Mexico City is demanding yet another recount, earning the new nickname "ObraGore" in the process. However, I disagree with that characterization - AMLO is ten times worse than Al Gore ever was. For one, Al Gore never led massive street protests in Florida. AMLO , on the other hand, has thousands of his people protesting in Mexico city (click here for picture). Furthermore, Gore never asserted that the people counting votes were actively conspiring with the Bush campaign to steal the election. In contrast, AMLO is alleging massive fraud and arguing that he lost because of a conspiracy (rather than a confusing ballot design).

In my opinion, the real difference between AMLO and Gore is that Gore accepted the decision of the courts and conceded - I don't think that AMLO will. While a formal protest has been filed with Mexico's electoral tribunal, I don't think that AMLO will recognize a ruling in favor of Calderon. You see, he is already alleging that the government is trying to keep him from taking power, so it wouldn't much of a stretch for him to just say that the courts are part of the conspiracy. Al Gore didn't try to take power by force after he lost, but I fear that AMLO will.

So, for pursuing a course of action that could shatter Mexico's fragile democracy, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is ConservaGlobe's Person of the Week.

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