Can Mexican presidential candidate avoid 'Rick Perry' slump after books fumble?
Enrique Pe帽a Nieto, the frontrunner in Mexico's presidential race, fumbled a question about which books most influenced him. And like Rick Perry's similar gaffe, Pe帽a Nieto's stumble may cost him.
In this photo taken Saturday, former Mexico State Gov. Enrique Pena Nieto, left, leaves a news conference where he stumbled while trying to remember three books or authors that have that had influenced him after a question from the audience at a book fair in Guadalajara, Mexico. Mr. Pena Nieto, the leading presidential contender for the 2012 Mexican presidential elections, was strongly criticized on the social networks when he was able to correctly name only one book he has read 'parts of': the Bible.
Bruno Gonzalez/AP
Mexico City
It鈥檚 being called Enrique Pe帽a Nieto's 鈥�Rick Perry鈥� moment.
When asked what three books have most influenced him over the weekend, Mr. Pe帽a Nieto, former Mexico state governor and the country's leading presidential candidate, paused, stumbled over his words, and could only cite the Bible and one other title, for which he cited the wrong author.听
Making matters worse was the setting: Pe帽a Nieto fumbled at the renowned Guadalajara International Book Fair.
"I have read a number of books, starting with novels, that I particularly liked. I'd have a hard time recalling the titles of the books," Pe帽a Nieto said at a Q & A. He cited 鈥減arts of鈥� the Bible, and later a novel, but he incorrectly identified that book鈥檚 author.
The crowd laughed. But the gaffe quickly turned into ridicule, and many are wondering if he will suffer politically, as did Governor Rick Perry (R) of Texas in a US presidential debate earlier this year, when he could not name all of the three agencies he said he would eliminate as president.
His party loyalists have assured this will not hurt his chances. But social media is ablaze. #Treslibros (or #threebooks) is trending on Twitter. Skits are circulating on YouTube poking fun of the presidential hopeful. Mexicans dropped off tomes at his party鈥檚 headquarters as a joke. His opponents have urged him to attend a reading seminar.
He sought to contain the brouhaha playing out over Twitter with his the day after: 鈥淚 am reading tweets about my error yesterday, some are very critical, others are even funny. I thank you for all of them.鈥�
In some ways the criticism might be unfair. After all, while literacy rates have been on the rise in Mexico, Mexicans on average only read between two and three books a year, according to a UNESCO study. The Monitor looked at the efforts to increase readership among at least one segment of the population, the police, who at the time, in a town near Mexico City, were obligated to read Bertolt Brecht and Raymond Carver in an attempt to become more cultured.听
But among a certain set 鈥� those much more well-read 鈥� Pe帽a Nieto's stumble has sparked hysterics over the prospect of a leader who does not open a 鈥渓ibro.鈥� According to Pro Mexico, the country鈥檚 promotion board, a 2006 National Reader Survey carried out by the National Council for Culture and the Arts that Mexicans with university-level education read an average of 5.1 books annually; the upper-middle and upper classes, 7.2.
The fuss may not really be about how many books Pe帽a Nieto reads anyway. In an opinion Tuesday titled 鈥溾�� in the daily Milenio, Le贸n Krauze says that the real issue is not the prospect of a president without culture, but one who did not bother to prepare questions about books at a book fair.
听Now Pe帽a Nieto has to counter the accusations that he seems presidential on the surface, but he does not know how to be off script, as McClatchy's Tim Johnson details . Pe帽a Nieto is the candidate for the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which held power for 71 years until 2000.
Rick Perry ultimately tried to navigate out of his gaffe with an 鈥�.鈥� But that of course has not gotten him very far: he's now lagging far behind his opponents in most US national polls. Perry's damage-control efforts are probably not the best script for Pe帽a Nieto to choose this time.