Recent US election results got Latin-American analysts thinking about different ways to win peoples trust. While Trump secured another win Mexican political landscape shows an interesting counter-example
President Claudia Sheinbaum and her Morena party demonstrated how to keep power in tough times: they won June-2024 election and got even more seats in congress. Their secret sauce was simple - focus on basic needs and clear messaging about it
The ruling party made some smart-moves over past years: they pushed for big minimum-wage increases and kept talking non-stop about their poor-support programs (which actually worked pretty well for average citizens)
The Democrats didnt come out to vote because there is not a populist and transformative political project
Mexican voters seemed to care more about these money-in-pocket policies than other issues like public safety. Hereʼs what made Morenaʼs approach work:
- Clear focus on economic support
- Non-stop communication about benefits
- Real wage increases that people felt
- Simple message about helping poor
Its interesting that while US Democrats lost ground Morena managed to grow its influence; showing that straight-forward welfare policies might be more effective than complex political strategies