Guerrero: Kevin de León’s bid for sympathy digs a deeper hole for his party
As the presidential campaign enters the second week, the two frontrunners are fighting for as many votes as possible, not the traditional goal of any two-man race in Mexico.
They are also digging a deeper hole for their party, which risks losing at least two state governorships to candidates who are not from the ruling party in some areas and who seem to have far more support than their party.
Some supporters of the candidate from the leftist party, the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), criticize the candidate for not taking a firm stance to fight corruption. Another critic says the PRD has been trying to turn its former leftist base into a center-right party.
The two candidates in the PRD are from the former political party, the PRI, and Mr del Castillo is the candidate for governor in the state of Jalisco, while his rival is the PRI’s candidate for governor in the state of Michoacan, and the PRI’s official candidate for governor in the state of Colima, which was held by the PRI until 2006 after their candidate was defeated in the election.
The PRD and its candidate for governor in the city of Guadalajara, Mr del Castillo, have been trying to appeal to their former base, while the PRI candidate said they have been trying to turn people on the former party into the PRI and the PRI into people supporting the PRD.
Mr del Castillo is accused by his opponent of being the candidate of Mr Calderon and saying he would continue his father’s policy of opening economic cooperation with Cuba — which he also has criticized Calderon for.
But in the campaign, both candidates have also been criticizing the president’s government — and that is being seized on by many supporters of Mr Calderon.
The two candidates are competing for support of the two million voters in the city where Mr del Castillo is