Mexican left in disarray

AP/Houston Chronicle:

Moderates and hard-liners exchanged accusations of voting irregularities on Sunday as Mexico's main leftist party chose new leadership.

The two front-runners for the Democratic Revolution Party's top job would likely take the party in sharply different directions. Former Sen. Jesus Ortega is a party moderate, while ex- Mexico City Mayor Alejandro Encinas advocates a radical opposition to President Felipe Calderon's government. Three other candidates are also on the ballot.

The leftist party, known as the PRD, has been fractured by severe infighting since its presidential candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, lost Mexico's 2006 presidential election by half a percentage point.

Lopez Obrador alleges that electoral fraud caused him to lose the vote and his supporters refuse to have any dealings with Calderon's administration. Encinas was a close adviser to Lopez Obrador.

The moderate wing of the party says that legislative work requires some contact with the executive branch. The moderates worry the PRD could once again be seen as uncooperative or violent.

On Sunday, an estimated 7 million members and supporters of the PRD cast ballots to chose a new party leader and other leadership positions. But the voting marred by allegations of vote-buying, intimidation and the use of improper ballots.

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This is good news for Mexico. When ever the left is fighting itself, it distracts them from their main mission of attempting to impose the evils of liberalism on the people. They are suffering from the Al Gore disease. Ever since his fight to overturn the results of the 2000 Florida vote, leftest have been challenging many of the elections they are losing and Obrador tried in 2006. The fact is that his loss was one of the best things that has happened to Mexico in recent years. Calderon has done a good job as President and is aggressively fighting the Drug insurgency that has been murdering Mexicans in great numbers.