Mexico Trucker Online

MEXICO CITY — Shouts of “Felipe” and “We won” echoed through the spacious halls of the National Action Party’s central headquarters, but nervousness reigned here as exit polls and preliminary results didn’t guarantee that the conservative candidate would win.

And when the Federal Electoral Institute, or IFE, announced late in the evening that the election was too close to call and that a winner wouldn’t be announced until Wednesday, there were whistles of disapproval and sighs of complaint.

But that didn’t stop Felipe Calderón or former Mexico City Mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, from claiming victory.

Calderón told supporters that with 35 percent of the vote tallied, he was satisfied that “we have won.”

“As soon as my triumph is recognized (and) I am declared president elect, I will convene a government of unity. It is time to construct … a better Mexico,” he told supporters.

Earlier in the evening, Manuel Espino, president of the National Action Party, or PAN, was restrained when he addressed the media and the lucky supporters with “Special Invitee” passes.

“Fortunately, we are doing well,” Espino said of the early results.

A festive atmosphere at the PAN gathering slowly deflated as Calderón’s slight lead kept shrinking with every update. Many supporters weren’t happy they would have to wait until Wednesday for official results.

“Those are the rules,” said PAN backer Israel Montano, 23, while biting his lip and worriedly rubbing his chin.

“We hoped for something else, but toward the end they started catching up,” Montano said.

“It’s bad,” said Raúl Benitez, 54, an information technology businessman, on hearing that the first exit poll — from Newspaper El Universal — showed Calderón in a tie with López Obrador.

“We have to win,” Benitez said in the rain outside his party’s national headquarters, where 200 supporters were gathered.

Pollster GEA-ISA, an established independent poll that generally showed the PAN leading during the campaign, gave Calderón a slight edge early on.

As the rain poured down, Veronica Castro González, 48, waved her Felipe flag and cheered as Espino announced the early poll results.

“It doesn’t matter,” Castro, a nutrition specialist, said of the rain. “We are going to be here until we know that Felipe Calderón wins.”

In the PAN’s national headquarters, there was a lot of optimism early in the evening..

As wide screen television monitors broadcast a Calderón documentary — cutting to live television news only when the PAN or Calderón was on the air — a voice over a loudspeaker summoned the media and the invitees to a covered courtyard, where “Felipe Calderón, our next president of Mexico,” would speak.

“We are going to celebrate that today was the triumph of National Action,” boomed the voice.

Ricardo Pascoe, a former PRD member and ex-ambassador to Cuba under the Fox government, said he believed the PAN will win the election.

“Felipe Calderon will win by 2 or 3 points,” Pascoe said. “We have also done our own quick counts.”

“It’s always good to win,” he said.