Feigned anger as Alonso Lujambio marks territory as presidential candidate.

Federal Secretary of Education Alonso Lujambio, in an attack on both Marcelo Ebrard and Enrique Peña Nieto, made his biggest step yet toward presenting himself as a contender for the 2012 presidency. In Madrid, Spain, in what would have been the first debate  between the three "pre-candidates," Lujambio criticized both his possible future opponents for failing to show up this would-be coming-out party, a forum arranged by Fundación Botín, bankrolled by Banco Santander, to engage in a first open debate with the education secretary. Neither Ebrard nor Peña Nieto attended the forum. 


Lujambio huffed and puffed at this perceived affront: Against Peña Nieto, he noted:

"It alarms me that señor Peña Nieto has become an example of unilateral communication. From the monologue of the [political television/internet] ad, or that of paid news stories. It alarms me that he will only appear publicly in controlled environments, encapsulated for smiles and photos."

Yet his anger was more than a tad feigned: It was revealed that Peña Nieto had announced days ago he would not attend; as for Ebrard, when his team learned about the participation of former president Carlos Salinas, a figure loathed by the left, in the said forum, Ebrard backed straight out of it. 

What the incident did serve to do, however, was to present Alonso Lujambio as a candidate for the nomination to be PAN's presidential candidate - if any doubt remained, that is.