Alliance News

One of the states electing a governor in 2011 which I'd not heard of as a possible target for an alliance is Coahuila, where Humberto Moreira's term is in its home stretch. But today's La Opinion reports that the PRD and the PAN here are in fact discussing the terms of an agreement. In terms of his profile, Moreira isn't Peña Nieto, or even Fidel Herrera for that matter, but he is something of a rising star and his name has been bandied about as a possible presidential candidate in the future, so a victory for the PAN-PRD in Coahuila would be a significant scalp. At the same time, because of the PRD's weakness here (in the 2005 election that brought Moreira into office, the PRD candidate won 3 percent of the votes) an alliance would be more window-dressing than a significant fusion of political forces.

Also, Bajo Reserva reports that the alliance being talked about Michoacán is not of the PAN and the PRD, but of the PAN and the PRI. The logic is that removing the PRD from the governor's house in Michoacán is roughly equivalent to defeating Marín and the PRI in Puebla, but this logic is flawed for many reasons, which in sum make this proposed alliance seem more than anything like a naked power grab.