In the wake of the Fox-Chavez spat, Mexico’s leftist presidential frontrunner, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has slid by nearly 8 basis points in the presidential polls. From a Goldman Sachs research note:

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines – AMLO Slightly Down on the Polls

According to pollster Mitofsky, in November Lopez Obrador (AMLO) lost some ground in the opinion polls, falling to 29.5% in November from 37.9% in August. Most of the intentions to vote lost by AMLO went to PANista candidate Felipe Calderon, who climbed to 24.4% in November from 20.2%. Madrazo (PRI) remained stable in second place in the polls, with 25.7% in November from 25.0% in August. The poll was conducted with a sample of 1,200 individuals nation-wide, between November 10 and 14, thus closing when all the candidates from the three main parties had announced their candidates. The margin of error is +/- 4.0%.

Now that Madrazo is the presidential candidate for the PRI, his main task will be to reunify a much-divided party, because if he fails in this task his chances of winning in 2006 will be much diminished. In the process of gaining his nomination, Madrazo alienated the powerful teachers’ union leader Elba Esther Gordillo, denying her the presidency of the PRI. This week, the leadership of the PRI suspended Elba Esther from her political rights in the PRI. As a result, Gordillo intensified her campaign against Madrazo, while trying to bring the teacher’s union with her to another party.

The President of the PAN Manuel Espino said that his party has no interest in allying itself with the PRD or the PRI, thus frowning at any offers from Elba Esther to establish an alliance.