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PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION LEANS TOWARD POLITICAL CHANGE By Travis L. Mason Less than three months before Mexico's presidential election, polls show that the race is the closest in recent history, and that the opposition is within reach of toppling the world's longest-ruling political party. Mexican citizen and former Marist College student Pedro De La Torres said the presidential race is extremely close and that the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) is in danger of losing its 71-year strong-hold on the country. "The difference is minuscule," said De La Torres. "Never before has an opposition candidate come this close of the PRI candidate at this point in the race." Despite a rejuvenated image and a national economic recovery that should help it in the July 2 election, PRI, is suffering from resentment against its history of corruption, vote manipulation and authoritarian rule. Government-backed candidate Francisco Labastida is leading in the polls with 40 percent of the intended vote, followed by former Guanajuato state Gov. Vicente Fox of the National Action Party (PAN) with 32 percent, and former Mexico City Mayor Cuauhtemoc Cardenas with 10 percent, according to a recent survey by The Daily Reforma. Andres Oppenheimer, a Miami Herald reporter, said that during the 1994 presidential election, the PRI candidate was leading in the polls with a massive 60 percent of the intended vote, while his nearest rival was far behind with a mere 20 percent. While recent electoral changes will make it much more difficult for the PRI to rig the vote, Gilda Ochoa, an assistant professor of Mexican studies at Pomona College, said the PRI still has considerable influence over television and radio networks and feels confidante that Labastida will win the election. "The economy is expected to grow by a healthy 4.5 percent this year, President Ernesto Zedillo enjoys record popularity, Labastida conveys a feeling of security and the PRI maintains one of the world's best-oiled political machines," said Gilda Ochoa. Ochoa said evening news television programs show Labastida looking great and speaking in front of huge crowds while the cameras often look for scenes where the opposition candidate is uncombed, or look for empty seats in the audience which also gives the PRI a political advantage. Arturo Gonzalez, assistant professor of Mexican-American studies at the University of Arizona, said the outcome of the race will depend heavily on televised debates and on the fate of Cuauhtemoc Cardenas' campaign. "If left-of-center Cardenas fails to move up from his current 10 percent in the polls, the expectation is that a sizable part of his voters will shift over to the right-of-center Fox," said Gonzalez. "This is because Cardenas' supporters are, above all, anti-PRI, and may thus vote for the opposition candidate with the best chances of toppling the ruling party." De La Torres said that many Mexicans are skeptical of the PRI's new image, claiming that the leaders of the party can not simply change overnight. "The idea that there can be saviors within the PRI who can change things around is false," De La Torres said. "Labastida has been part of the system for 36 years. To become the PRI candidate, he had to make deals with the party hard-liners." Despite his viewpoint on the PRI, De La Torres said the 2000 presidential election should give Mexicans a hope for a better future. "In this race, they (the candidates) have a responsibility to be constructive, propose things and give the nation hope of a better future," said De La Torres.