López Obrador confidently resists attacks in Mexico's first presidential debate
Mexico’s first presidential debate Sunday night had no clear winner despite the combined efforts of the four other candidates to attack front-runner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and his anti-corruption crusade.
"“Obviously everyone’s against me, ganging up on me,” he said mocking his rivals.
Lopez Obrador, 64, seemed relaxed, almost bored at times, as his opponents sought to knock him down. Speaking slowly and carefully he made sure to avoid mistakes and maintain an air of confidence in the polls that show him with a seemingly insurmountable lead.
At one point he took out a graphic showing him with a 48 percent favorability rating in the Reforma newspaper's poll last week. "I don't mean to brag," he said with a wry smile. But "something terrible has to happen" for us not to win. In a further sign of disdain, when the debate ended Lopez Obrador hastily exited, leaving his rivals on stage.
After failed presidential bids in 2006 and 2012, Lopez Obrador has sought to move to the center in an effort to avoid scaring voters away with his populist talk of making the majority of poor Mexicans his priority. So far it seems to be working and he has avoided any socialist flirting with Cuba or Venezuela.
Instead, he repeated his pledge to purge the government of corruption, remove political perks and slash bloated salaries. "This isn't just another election, this is to truly change things in this country," he said.
"The debate did serve to mark the clear differences that exist between the candidates. Mexicans have five very different options," Univision anchor Jorge Ramos tweeted after the debate. "I don't think it's possible to point to a winner."
His opponents, led by second placed Ricardo Anaya, seized on Lopez Obrador's proposal for an amnesty to fight drug violence to solve Mexico’s crime problem. The avowed leftist said he would even invite the pope to discuss how to carry out such a dialogue.
“Proposing a pardon for criminals is madness, and would lead to an immense amount of violence in the country,” Anaya said. The ruling PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) candidate, Jose Antonio Meade, currently a distant third in the polls, said the proposal put Lopez Obrador “on the side of the criminals.”
But many Mexicans are tired with police corruption and unending violence, so may be willing to consider alternatives. So far 2018 is on track to be the deadliest year on record, worse than last year when nearly 30,000 people were killed in Mexico. At least 80 politicians have been shot, or killed while drug cartels continue their rampage in regions of central and northern Mexico.
There was little talk of foreign policy and relations with U.S. President Donald Trump in Sunday's debate, though it is expected to be brought up in two future debates in May and June.
Anaya, 39, the most eloquent of Lopez Obrador's rivals, sought to portray Lopez Obrador as a political dinosaur, and asked him to explain his past hip of the PRI during its decades of single party rule and institutionalized corruption.
"You should explain your contradictions," Anaya said, holding up photos of former PRI who are part of Lopez Obrador's campaign.
Lopez Obrador dismissed his past saying he was a forgiving person who looks "forward, not backward."