Wednesday's show: A chat about the NRA with Laura Carno

Guest:  Laura Carno, conservative activist and author..........we will discuss the state of the NRA and the criticisms following the South Florida school shooting........

Click to listen:

Wednesday's video: The presidential elections in Mexico

Mexico will choose a new president in July. Will it be Mr Meade of PRI? Mr Anaya of PAN? Mr Lopez-Obrador from the left? It’s too early to tell but a tough campaign lies ahead.......

Click to watch:

You will hear a lot about these Mexicans running for president in 2018

Over the next few months, the Mexican presidential campaign will hit the front pages.  The vote is in early July.

So let me introduce you to some of the names and the one issue that the winner will face.  The three major players are:

– José Antonio Meade-Kuribrena of the PRI.  This is the party that governed Mexico for over 70 years and the political home of incumbent President Enrique Peña-Nieto.  They are often known as the “partido oficial,” or a cynical reference to their control of the bureaucracy.  They’re the Mexican version of the “Deep State” party. 

– Ricardo Anaya-Cortés of the PAN.  This is a conservative party very popular in the north of Mexico.  A friend of mine calls them “los republicanos mexicanos,” a reference to their ideological similarity to the GOP.  They are often accused of being too close to the Catholic Church and of promoting states’ rights.

– Andrés Manuel López-Obrador of the left-of-center MORENA. 

This election, as my friend Allan Wall explained, is unusual because of political coalitions that have brought parties from different corners to support the PAN and MORENA.

One of these three men will be next president of Mexico.

At the moment, López-Obrador is leading in some polls, in large part because he’s been around for a long time.  He was mayor of Mexico City and a candidate in 2006 and 2012 (Consulta Mitofsky poll, AMLO 27.1%, Anaya 22.3%, and Meade 18.0%).

At the moment, it’s too early to tell, but I’d keep an eye on Mr. Meade, because he will have the PRI’s electoral machinery on his side.

Meade and Anaya would be fairly conventional presidents.  López-Obrador promotes himself as the man who will stand up to Trump, but we’re not sure what that really means.  López-Obrador was always opposed to NAFTA, whereas Meade and Anaya support it.

No matter who wins, he will inherit a violent nation, as my friend Patrick Corcoran wrote:

After a three-year rise in murders, 2017 was the most violent year in Mexico’s recent history. 

The more than 29,000 murders registered by the National Public Security System represented a 27 percent jump from 2016, and a nearly 60 percent increase since 2014. 

As is usually the case, organized crime was the chief driver of this wave of bloodshed.

Every conversation I have with Mexican friends or visitors confirms that “inseguridad” or insecurity is issue number one.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.

Another one about the politics of gun control

The politics of gun control is always hard to follow.    The problem is that gun control plays differently in the country than it does in newsrooms, as Power Line tells us:    

And Rasmussen finds that 54% think massive government failures are mostly to blame for the Parkland, Florida shootings, while only 33% blame a lack of gun control.
Interestingly, the finding is even more pronounced among those who have school-age children: 61% think government is mostly to blame, while only 23% point the finger mostly at guns.

It's one poll and we always like to see more than one finding.   Nevertheless, the poll makes sense.  In other words, people don't automatically blame guns when a shooting occurs.    My guess is that the public understands that this is a lot more complicated than just blaming guns.