Ho boy!  This is a HUGE debate in itself.  I am a year or two out of touch with mexican left issues, but the broad outlines of the controversy as I understand it, is that the PRD is similar to the center-left parties taking power in south american these days.  Which is to say, social democratic in a sense, but no longer denouncing capitalism itself or prepared to tell the IMF to go fuck off.  The PRD is much more similar to Brazil's PT or the left party in uruguay than the US Dems; however, the PRD could probably be classified as not as left as the Chavez project in venezuela or Bolivia's MAS, but better and with more integrity say than the Chilean socialists or Kirchner in Argentina.  In other words occupying the swampy middle of latin american left politics.  The Zaps and much of the socialist/radical left in mexico sees this as part of a steady move to the right by the prd, so marcos ran 'the other campaign' to denounce obrador.  However, the other campaign didn't take off the way radicals might have hoped. My own feelings are, were I part of the movement in Mexico, I'd probably be a PRD member (and happier about it than voting dem in a swing state here in the US), but a part of its left wing, and I'd probably feel about obrador the way I feel about andy stern. Does anyone have legislative specifics, or details about their social movement base?  I know it varies alot state by state, like having real mass content in morelia.  I also remember the zaps hating on the prd for clashes with their militias in the south, and various other crimes and misdemeanors... Jim <div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"> >... One crucial political distinction between ... [Mexico and the US] >is the presence of a third party in the Mexican mix, one that at least >purports to be left of the center. ... >It is not that the PRD's hands are clean [--] its legislators have >regularly >prostituted their wares ... "Purports"?  "Prostituted"?  Actually, this makes Mexico sound much like the US -- with the PRD being Democrats but with more brio.  Anyone have any details on how solid the PRD's leftist credentials are? Carl </blockquote></div>