Mexicans Choose Soccer Games Over Political Games

If you think that Americans are cynical about politics, wait until you meet Mexicans from Mexico City, where the World Cup is a welcomed distraction from the presidential elections that will take place on July 2. Last Wednesday, the presidential candidates had their final debate, during which one of the front-runners, Andres Manuel López Obrador, the former centrist governor of the state of Mexico (el Distrito Federal) accused his more conservative opponent, Felipe Calderón, of illegally giving his brother-in-law federal contracts while he served as the Minister of Energy in 2003. López Obrador, whose popularity in the polls vacillates between a couple points ahead and a couple points behind Calderón, further alleged that Calderón’s cuñado incómodo (inconvenient brother in law) failed to pay taxes on more than $60 million in earnings from the contracts. Hmmm…sound familiar to U.S. politics? Well, guess what Mexicans are talking about around the kitchen table? The political scandal between the two Presidential candidates, one of whom will most likely run the country for the next six years? Or Oswaldo Sanchez - the sexy Mexican goalkeeper, who risked missing the first game of the World Cup because of the unexpected death of his father?

Just Another Political Scandal
For Americans, such a display of dirty laundry so close to an election should sound familiar. John Kerry may have lost in 2004 because he was a “flip flopper” who did not talk enough about Jesus or "family values," but it is just as likely that Kerry lost because of his alleged lies around that stupid purple heart that he may or may not have earned for his service in Vietnam, and that he may or may not have thrown in the trash out of disdain for the war. That is to say, that whether or not Mexico’s Calderón illegally gave contracts to his brother-in-law, the damage has already been done, the seeds of doubt planted. Many undecided Mexican voters will now vote for López Obrador because they have been given a simple message and a simple reason not to vote for Calderón – a reason that has nothing to do, of course, with either candidates´ actual plan for how to create jobs, control migration al otro lado (to the U.S.), improve the lives of the more than one in five Mexicans who live in poverty, or grow the economy at a fast enough rate to compete in an ever-expanding global market.

But unlike in the U.S., the Mexican reaction to such an overt attempt to distract voters from the real issues at play is so passive that it is virtually non-existent. Despite the preponderance of articles in the Mexican press investigating the validity of López Obrador´s allegations against Calderón´s bother-in-law, Mexicans dismiss the political game and replace it with the exciting, less complicated, and always rewarding game of fútbol. In fact, during the week leading up to the first game of the World Cup, which took place on Sunday, discussions of the game took center stage in every conversation that I found myself in.

The vast majority of Mexicans are much more concerned over which countries´ soccer teams are the best, how many people fit in Germany´s new soccer stadium, and where they are going to watch the games than they are concerned over the valor of the two leading Presidential candidates.

Learned Passivity
From what I can see, the choice not to fret over the politicians’ lies, missteps, and corruption is a conscious choice by Mexicans – even for those who study politics and work in the governmental machine. It is not that Mexicans fail to realize the importance of who wins on July 2 or the differences between their plans to improve (or exacerbate) the country´s stagnant economic and social situations; rather, it is that after years of political betrayal, corruption, and economic waste, Mexicans do not believe that their participation in politics will make one bit of difference towards the future direction of their country. They have simply lost all that earnest optimism that continues to drive DC’s political machine, and they have replaced it with self-effacing humor: no one can laugh at themselves and their chaotic, unruly government better than Mexicans can. They live with it and laugh at it, but few people have any hope that the political corruption will stop or that a political candidate will actually improve Mexicans´ daily realities. On the other hand, a victory in the World Cup might significantly change their lives.

It will be fascinating to observe over the next three weeks how and if the country shifts it’s focus from the World Cup to the Presidential Election. From what I have gathered so far, the Mexican focus is on the field and not on the Palacio Presidencial. In the words of one young Mexican, “La política es una vieja prostituta que quiere pero no puedo ser una virgin” (Politics are like an old whore who wants to but will never become a virgin again.)

Mexicans have decided that they have a much better chance of winning the World Cup - no matter how dubious - than they have of electing a president who they can believe in. Perhaps more significantly, Mexicans may also believe that winning the World Cup would have a more significant and positive impact on their lives than the 6 year rule of whichever candidate wins on July 2.