Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

Mexico conservative with small lead in new poll
Thu May 4, 2006 12:53 AM ET


MEXICO CITY, May 3 (Reuters) - Mexico's ruling party presidential candidate has taken a slight lead in a poll released on Wednesday, confirming his new position as front-runner ahead of July elections.

The new poll by Consulta Mitofsky gave Felipe Calderon 35 percent of the expected vote -- four points higher than last month and one point more than his leftist rival and long-time election favorite Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

The survey, presented on television news channel Televisa, showed Lopez Obrador with 34 percent, shedding four percentage points since last month's poll. Roberto Madrazo, of the main opposition group, the Institutional Revolutionary Party, slipped two percentage points to 27 percent.

It is the latest in successive string of poll to show Calderon in the lead.

Lopez Obrador has taken a battering from a campaign that presented him as a danger for Mexico. His failure to defend himself against the attacks or take part in a recent televised debate in which Calderon performed strongly are widely seen as having contributed to his sliding popularity.

The poll researchers did not say when the survey was taken, how many people were interviewed or what the margin of error was.



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