Sunday, July 09, 2006

Obrador: We Were Robbed!

While the outcome of Mexico's presidential election is still hotly disputed, what did our court-appointed, Diebold-anointed President Bush rush to do..... call Vicente Fox's party successor, Felipe Calderon, to congratulate him on his win.

Bush knows all about how to bully the outcome of an election. Don't wait for the special elections court, declare victory and defy anyone to prove you wrong. Fox and Calderon learned from a pro.

Ronald Klain, who was general counsel for the Gore-Lieberman Recount Committee in 2000, obviously learned the hard way. He observes that the narrowly declared loser, Lopez Obrador, should not take the high road as Gore did in the presidential elections of 2000, and John Kerry in 2004.

Presidential politics isn't a gentleman's match with Marquis of Queensberry rules... it is an eye-gouging, bare-fisted, no-holds-barred barroom fight. Those unwilling to wade in "with a scorched-earth approach" to demand a fair election will lose.

And, the voters and the country lose.

Obrador looks like he is ready for a fight. The 280,000 who gathered in Mexico City's center to hear him speak Saturday are ready for a fight. Obrador wants a vote-by-vote recount. For good reason. After opening just 2,600 of the vote packets from the 130,000 polling stations last week, Calderon's lead dwindled from 400,000 to 230,000.

Admittedly, the deck is stacked against Obrador. Calderon can use the power of the Fox administration to stifle recounts. But, without clean, undisputed election results, like Bush, Calderon will "suffer bitter domestic opposition." The stench of corruption will follow him around like dust on a dirt road.

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