A voice for the poor grows stronger in Mexico election

by Jo Tuckman, Globe Correspondent
Populist message resonates in race for presidency
MEXICO CITY
Andrés Manuel López Obrador tirelessly presses his campaign promise at rally after rally up and down the country: He'll listen and respect all Mexicans if he is elected president but ''the poor come first."

n a country where more than half the population is poor and many more feel neglected, the message is getting through. Latin America's political swing to the left appears to be on the verge of reaching the doorstep of the United States.

As the July 2 election approaches, polls this month suggest that the former Mexico City mayor and candidate of the left-of-center Party of Democratic Revolution, or PRD, is consolidating his lead, with support from about 40 percent of voters and a 10-point edge over his only two main rivals.

The son of a shopkeeper in a tiny provincial town in the swampy southeastern state of Tabasco, López Obrador went on to serve as mayor of Mexico's enormous capital from 2000 until he stepped down in July 2005 to run for president.

''He appears to stand for something transcendental, he's offering esperanza [hope]," says George Grayson, a Mexico specialist at the College of William & Mary whose book about López Obrador, titled ''The Mexican Messiah," is being printed. ''The Mexican people are looking for a savior."
...