Update on Mockus

The situation for the forthcoming presidential elections in Colombia is getting more and more interesting. Earlier this week, Antanas Mockus (who, as I discussed here, is the best candidate ever) joined forces with Sergio Fajardo, another independent candidate. Fajardo has agreed to be his vice-presidential candidate. This seems to have given a huge momentum to Mockus' candidacy, as now he is second in the polls, just behind Juan Manuel Santos (37% vs. 24%). Mockus is tremendously successful among young people, intellectuals and academics. Also, he is the leader in social networks such as facebook and twitter. (This is just a good sign; not that every family in Colombia has a computer with Internet access.) Although we are less than two months away from election day and anything could happen, it is clear that the momentum gained by Mockus' candidacy is slowly changing the perception that he has no chances of winning. Let's hope the trend continues.

But that's not all. Just after the positive poll results were revealed, yesterday we all were kinda shocked when Mockus revealed he is in an early stage of Parkinson's disease. Unlike in the US, in Colombia the health condition of politicians is little discussed during elections. While other candidates have respected and admired Mockus' courage in making such a declaration, and most of them have promised not to use it during the campaign, it is still not clear to me how this new turn of events will change things. So far people have assumed the news positively, as it is inspiring to see such an extremely brilliant guy dealing with that condition with dignity and courage.