First lady’s drive new to Mexico

MEXICO CITY – Mexico’s first lady became tabloid fodder after insisting on a very untraditional political role alongside her husband, President Vicente Fox. The women most likely to replace her say they want a much lower profile – more like Laura Bush’s role in the United States.

Marta Sahagun made moves never before seen in a Mexican first lady, insisting on a leadership role in social policies and even flirting with the idea of running for president herself. That earned her frequent – and unkind – comparisons to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has pursued her own political career since President Clinton left office.

Two of the three main Mexican presidential candidates are married: Felipe Calderon, of Fox’s National Action Party, and Roberto Madrazo of the Institutional Revolutionary Party.

“The people are choosing the president of the republic, not me … and I won’t look for any political post,” said Calderon’s wife, Margarite Zavala.

Madrazo’s wife, Isabel de la Parra, said the same.

In the past, Mexican first ladies were content to quietly lead Mexico’s social welfare agency. But Sahagun, who left her first husband to pursue a political career, wasn’t about to stay in Fox’s shadow.

Fox was divorced before he won the presidency in 2000, and Sahagun was his spokeswoman. The two were married in a secret ceremony exactly a year later, and she stayed in the limelight from then on.

De la Parra says she doesn’t even like the term “first lady.” If Madrazo, running third in the polls, is elected, she plans to focus all her energy on supporting her husband.

Calderon’s wife, Zavala, said it’s not about women’s rights or justice, but “political prudence.”

“I know that I’ve never had the experience of being the wife of the president of the republic, but one thing I know about is politics,” she said. “And it seems that this is a waste of time and would require from my part an effort that doesn’t seem healthy for my family.”