AMLO not happy with the presidential debate

They had a debate in Mexico and no one is happy, especially the incumbent President Andres Lopez-Obrador. Let’s hear from Mr. AMLO:

There were plenty of reasons to criticize Mexico’s first presidential debate leading up to the June 2 election. The format was a bit constrictive, and the candidates’ timer wasn’t working at some points, leaving it unclear how much longer they could speak.

But President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on Tuesday he had a novel reason for disliking Sunday’s debate: It wasn’t about him.

Focused on his legacy, López Obrador has long compared his administration to the most heroic chapters of Mexican history. He expressed anger the debate moderators posed questions about corruption and problems with the education and health care systems. Those are issues he says he has resolved.

“The whole narrative of the debate, if you analyze it, revolved around what our opponents say,” López Obrador said at his daily news briefing. “The whole narrative of the debate was to not recognize anything” done under his administration, “as if we had not focused on completely banishing corruption.”

Let me translate: AMLO didn’t like so many questions about corruption and mismanagement.

I’ve watched a rerun of the debate. Honestly, I was busy watching the Astros-Rangers game. Yes, I love the Texas version of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry although we have a long way to go before we are at that level. Nevertheless, here is what I saw in the debate:

First, the moderators brought up corruption because the Mexican voters are indeed concerned about it. Obviously, AMLO didn’t like it because they are talking about him. He would have preferred for everyone to praise his successes rather than point out his shortcomings.

Second, the opposition candidate did say that AMLO was embracing delinquents with his hugs vs bullets approach. It was a great line because AMLO owns the insecurity issue but he does not like to hear about it.

My impression of the candidates is that their performance was underwhelming. I’ve heard from several friends that it was boring and difficult to watch. It confirmed what I suspected that Claudia Sheinbaum is a scientist not much of a politician. She is the opposite of AMLO. The opposition, Xóchitl Gálvez, is cheerful but needs more experience.

So Mrs. Sheinbaum will probably win and most Mexicans know very little about her except that AMLO pushed her over the line.

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Image: Eneas De Troya