The Path for Peña Nieto

Enrique Aranda lays out the primary tasks facing Peña Nieto as he makes his way toward a presidential candidacy:

Resolve his personal relationship with the actress Angélica Rivera, which whom it is said that he will be married between May and October, as he himself intimated in his recent visit to the Vatican.

Resolve his succession, which, in the opinion of those in the know, includes two well positioned prospects: federal deputy Luis Videgaray, his former secretary of finance, and, also, the present leader of Congress in the state, Ernesto Nemer.

Widening his present position, in such a way that the high approval and awareness ratings that he has in recent polls that are for the most part taken in the preferable terrain in the center of the country, are repeated throughout the breadth and depth of the country.

And building an expertise that, added to his efficient and popular government, will permit him to forcefully project himself toward 2012, while, it is said, spending time participating in issue forums and consultations that, in time, will allow him to form a program, a governing program, for the next presidential term.

I'm not sure if it says more about the author or the subject that the first item on his list has to do with his personal life, the next two are purely horse-race political concerns, while actually preparing himself to serve as president is a virtual afterthought. And this regarding a politician about whose ideology and economic philosophy we know little, to boot. A Peña Nieto campaign and presidency has the potential to be an orgy of superficiality.