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Mexico captivated, worried by Palin pick

By Jeremy Schwartz | Friday, September 12, 2008, 12:21 PM

Mexican pundits have been as fascinated by John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as their American counterparts, but running through the commentaries is a stream of worry over what her election would mean for Mexico.

Most Mexican commentators believe Palin’s pick has rejuvenated McCain’s campaign and was designed to woo white women voters. “Palin…has transformed the campaign and taken out the boring and tedious parts,” writes Concepcion Badillo in the Mexico City daily La Cronica. But Badillo also points to perhaps Palin’s most troubling aspect south of the border: the fact that she only got a passport last year and has little foreign policy experience.

In a column entitled, “Keep a careful eye on Palin,” Milenio columnist Fernanda Gonzalez wonders, “This is the woman who would be in charge of American foreign policy?…Wouldn’t a better option be Joe Biden, who presides over the Foreign Relations Committee in the American Senate?”

Palin is also taking flak for her frequent references to religion, which pundits say recalls George W. Bush, whose reputation is thoroughly in tatters in Mexico. Jose Francisco Gomez Hinojosa, writing for the Noreste newspaper, mocks Palin, saying “She also sees a divine mandate in the construction of a controversial pipeline in the south of Alaska that’s been severely criticized by all the environmental organizations in the U.S. For Palin then, God is on her side, meaning (she believes) the American position that considers the U.S. to be the policeman of the world, the one who decides what happens in every latitude, is sent from God.”

Palin’s personal life has also fascinated the Mexican chattering class: The Seminario newspaper says her family drama is “worthy of a Televisa telenovela.” In Reforma, Jorge Alcocer says “The American electoral show is entering its final season and it will be better than any movie or TV series.”

Mexico remains firmly in the Obama camp, with recent polls showing him with a 54 to 16 advantage over McCain.

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