Mexico is generally recognized as a country with a stable democracy, yet reactions to the general elections in December 2006 might have surprised many. Reminiscent of the U.S. election in 2000, Presidential candidate Felipe Calderon of the National Action Party beat Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the Institutional Revolutionary Party by a margin of 0.58%. This sparked violence, a hushed swearing in, and fears over the creation of an alternative government. This, years after the outgoing President, Vicente Fox, upset the Institutional Revolutionary Party's dominance in 2000, when he won the elections for the National Action Party for the fi rst time in 71 years.
After the third debate, network and cable news commentators and their expert guests differed in their opinions on who did better, after having been largely in agreement after the first and second debate. Media Tenor's Slant -o- meter analyzed the commentary following the debate on six TV channels. While ABC and NBC were moderate in their ratings of Kerry and Bush, CBS, FOX, CNN and PBS commentators were more vocal about their dislikes for one or the other of the candidates. Fox News presented the most favorable coverage of George W. Bush's performance and the most negative comments on John Kerry. While positive reports on Bush exceeded negative reports by almost 43%, the coverage of Kerry had an overall negative balance of 15%. Similarly, PBS's commentary featured 6.6% more positive than negative statements on Bush, while , on balance, comments on Kerry were 13% more negative.
In tonight's TV debate, neither of the candidates managed to gain an upper hand in the overall discussion. There were no significant surprises on how each candidate views the issues that were addressed. Based on Bob Schieffer's excellent moderation, the debate was able to create a very clear image (almost 80% of the content was issue–focused) on the different approaches Kerry and Bush will use in tackling challenges in healthcare, economics, social issues and domestic security.
Compared to last week's commentary, ABC increased its positive coverage of Bush, NBC was more balanced and CBS reduced the level of positive commentary on Kerry. CNN again rated both candidates positively (but Kerry much more so than Bush) while PBS broadcast a more negative evaluation of Bush and Kerry. On the whole, Kerry came across in a more positive light, but is very interesting to look at the difference between the major networks vs. cable networks and the public broadcasters. On NBC and CBS, Kerry was seen as the clear 'winner.' In the other news outlets, both candidates were rated either positively or negatively.
And the winner is . . . Kerry needed a clear victory in the first TV debate to gain momentum. This was not apparent. The burden on proof was clearly on Kerry to attack Bush's reputation and turn the line of argument to his favor. But the incumbent was equally vigorous in pointing out his achievements – in Iraq, in his support for the troops and in the fight against terrorism. Bush successfully cornered Kerry on flip–flopping issue. Kerry's explanations of his policy standpoints and voting records ultimately proved ineffective in countering Bush's charges of inconsistency. It was Kerry's goal to present himself as a viable alternative – this could not be seen. Therefore: a draw. Which in the end helps Bush, not Kerry.