Tricky Politicians

I can't find a link to it, but I heard a hilarious story on the radio this morning. First, a little background: Mexican politicians used to have this kind of bizarre habit of celebrating their accomplishments in radio, television, and billboard advertisements. At first, I thought it was a good idea, because letting the public know what you're doing for them might make them less cynical about politics. At least that was what I thought, but I had to admit it was contradicted by the fact that Mexicans are cynical about politics from the age that they are able to pronounce the word "politics." And the ads were often ridiculous: the mayor here in Torreón boasted of having undertaken 100 public works in his first 100 days, but no one could take it seriously, because a) the word "completed" was conspicuously absent; b) a public work was defined so loosely that a new speed bump or patching a pothole seemed to qualify; and c) the most visible projects were famously behind schedule and over-budget.

In last year's electoral reform, advertisements including the likeness of the official who paid for them were prohibited. It was deemed an unnecessary expenditure that did nothing more than raise individual politicians' profiles. Now, as long as you don't show up in the spot, you can still celebrate the accomplishments of the government, but for megalomaniacal politicians, what's the point if you don't get any credit? To get around said obstacle, two politicians --Toluca mayor Juan Rodolfo Sánchez Gómez and Mexico State Governor Enrique Peña Nieto-- have come up with a pair of ingenious maneuvers. Peña Nieto no longer appears in ads about his government's brilliance, but instead a series of low-level celebrities sing his praises in a variety of media. Sánchez Gómez is even craftier: he found a local man who apparently looks just like him, slapped a nice suit and a mayoral hairdo on the guy, and parades him around in various spots proclaiming him the second coming of Benito Juárez. Good stuff guys.