The Advocate

Mexicans Express Surprise, Disappointment with Bush Re-Election

Andrew Kennis

What do Mexicans think about the results of the recent presidential election? To find out, I set out to interview dozens of Mexicans, mostly from Mexico City, but also others from different regions of our neighbor country to the south. Given the interdependence of the two country’s economies and the large number of Mexican nationals living the US, Mexicans had much at stake on November 2.

Mexico has a long history of distrust and hostility towards its northern neighbor. A famous saying asks, “Why is Mexico so close to the United States and so far away from God?” US armed forces have entered Mexican territory a dozen times, beginning in 1836 when General Gaines occupied Nacogdoches, Texas. In 1847, troops commanded by General Winfield Scott raised the US flag in Mexico City over the famed building, the “Halls of the Montezumas.” The US would go on to take over half of Mexico’s territory as a result of their invasion of Mexico before the US Civil War.

These images remain etched into the historical memory of Mexicans to this day. As a result, one expects a significant degree of skepticism when it comes to Mexican public opinion about US domestic politics. And yet, many Mexicans agreed with American opinion that this election was a distinctive one.

Surprise and Regret
Surprise and intense disappointment marked the general reaction. Most of the people I spoke with held out a fair degree of hope – and even certainty in some cases – that “W” would not win a second term.

“I thought for sure that Kerry was going to win,” said Rodrigo Rosas, a 24-year old office worker. “With all of the demonstrations and protests, I just thought Bush wouldn’t be able to pull it off.”

Susanna Liceahga, who makes her living as a hairdresser and as a result, meets people from a lot of different places, remarked that, “The people I know, from the United States and from abroad, were shocked and surprised. So was I. It just seemed that most of the people didn’t like the monster and that he wasn’t going to win.”

Liceahga also expressed a common sentiment when she said that the result felt like a nightmare. “It’s like a bad dream. I feel like I want to pinch myself and wake up and find out that it isn’t true.” Perseo Medgao, 47, agreed, “To see Bush is like to see a villain in a movie. It doesn’t even seem real sometimes.”

Medgao, however, was one of the few who expected the result. “It’s simple,” he reflected, “all of the people from the small towns voted for Bush and all of the people from the big cities voted for Kerry. You can see it clearly on the map as most of the country, that whole middle part especially, went for Bush and the coasts were for Kerry. It just wasn’t enough for Kerry in the end.”

Alfredo Matao’s sentiments reflected the tone of the majority. “Terrible, terrible,” he said. “I was surprised to see that the US was so conservative, I thought that with all of the negative impact that the US had internationally, that surely Americans would not give that idiot a second term.”

However, when Matao made that comment, he did not know that in reality, the vast majority of America did not vote for Bush. Indeed, no one interviewed for this article seemed to understand the realities of voter turnout in the election.

Voter Turnout

The percentage of voters who made it to the polling booths this election was extraordinarily low in comparison that found in most representative democracies. However, the mainstream corporate media chose to concentrate on the fact that in comparison to past US elections, voter turnout was technically “high.” As a result, most people don’t realize that over 70 percent of the country did not vote for Bush.
Because of the strong influence that US media outlets have, including their reach abroad and dependence on them by foreign outlets, it is hardly surprising that many Mexicans were unaware of the turnout, and were in fact quite surprised when informed about as much. Some of them changed their mind in light of the election results and others, quite simply said they had to rethink their viewpoints altogether.

“I didn’t know that,” said Ismael Lemos when I mentioned 70 percent figure. Lemos, who is a 55-year old taxi driver from the coastal state of Michoacan, then drew a comparison to his own people. “I suppose then that the gringos are also victims of apathy, as that’s something that is affecting our country a lot too.”

Others changed their minds completely about how they viewed the election, including Liceahga. “I see things differently now and I actually think that’s the reason why Bush won. If the people who didn’t vote would have voted, I’m sure that Bush would have lost then.”

Many Mexicans were stupefied when they heard the statistic, including Joaquin Alonso. “That’s incredible, shocking to hear, really shocking,” said Alonso in reaction to the turnout numbers, and added a common refrain: “Look at how they elect the President in the first place. It’s a very archaic system.”

Indeed, a number of people pointed to the Electoral College as evidence of a general flaw in the American electoral system. “I didn’t know about the low turnout, but I do know that their election system is just plain weird. Nobody else elects Presidents the way Americans do. Maybe that’s why they have such weird results,” said Rodolfo Martinez, a janitor from Puebla.

International Verdict: Overwhelmingly Anti-Bush

Mexicans used harsh adjectives to describe Bush, calling him a “monster,” a “villain,” and a “nightmare.” According to a new online global poll, these opinions may hold good across the world.

The web site globalvote2004.org garnered over 100,000 votes for the US president from every continent and country in the world. Over three-fourths of these votes went to Kerry, while the combined votes garnered by Green party candidate David Cobb and Independent Ralph Nader surpassed Bush’s puny 9 percent of the total.

We don’t know how many people around the world share Mexicans’ surprise and disappointment with the results of the US election. However, we can be quite sure that they are not happy with the new reality: George W. Bush will be President for the next four years.

Andrew Kennis is a student in the PhD program in Political Science.