…of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in Mexico. It’s a thing of beauty.

The latest poll shows that the right-leaning free-market PAN party candidate’s lead is now E-X-T-E-N-D-I-N-G well ahead of AMLO’s. This is the third straight poll showing this awesome trend ahead of the July 2 presidential election.

Here’s what’s cool about it: Tonight is the first Mexican presidential debate. Calderon can cream PRI dinosaur candidate Roberto Madrazo easily. AMLO, meanwhile, thinking his two-year-long lead was permanent, opted to sit this debate out. Now, the heavy TV exposure for Calderon against Madrazo is likely to extend his lead even further.

Why is this happening? One, Hugo Chavez. He’s become the biggest campaign issue in Mexico, inserting himself in their business repeatedly and making no secret of his preference for AMLO. The big flights of drug dealing airlines out of Venezuela, landing in Mexico, have got to have an impact, too. When 5.5 tons of cocaine were offloaded near Mexico City, it might be significant that the guys greeting the plane were city officials, who ultimately report to AMLO.

I also have to wonder if maybe the PAN party’s fierce stance on immigration – granting immigrants in the U.S. some kind of legalization is resonating with Mexican voters. Nobody’s fought harder than the PAN to stick up for immigrants. Well that’s one reason why I agree with being soft on immigrants here in the states! It kills off populist candidacies, ensuring our border problems don’t get truly horrible! Maybe there are some things Mexicans and gringos can really agree on.

THIS IS AWESOME!!!!!! iiiVIVA MEXICO!!!

The Bloomberg link is here.

Boz at Bloggings by Boz has an interesting additional detail here.