Mexican growth spurt may be too late for Fox's man

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http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-03-29T211846Z_01_N28204397_RTRIDST_0_ECONOMY-MEXICO-ELECTION.XML

MEXICO CITY, March 29 (Reuters) - A slight economic pickup ahead of July presidential elections will probably not impress Mexican voters enough to help ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon beat his leftist opponent Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who is leading in the latest opinion polls.

A surge in exports partly due to a recovery in Mexican manufacturing after a slump has led the government, Wall Street and Mexico's central bank to revise growth forecasts for the year to as high as 4.4 percent from previous estimates of about 3.5 percent.

President Vicente Fox is often chided for not achieving better growth during his term, so a volley of positive data proving he has been doing something right might give Calderon a much needed boost among voters.

Even still, analysts say the figures are not spectacular enough to dent the lead of Lopez Obrador, a Fox rival who is appealing to Mexico's poor in part by arguing that growth in the economy is useless unless they are tangibly better off.


Edit: Hugo Chavez backs Obrador.