Baja California is slowly gaining strength in the electoral calendar for 2013. Just this past week, César Camacho Quiroz, National President of PRI,

came to this state for the first out of many visits, and perhaps in an attempt to calm the heated race that has maybe already begun for 2013.

The obvious thing about this visit of the national leader from the "PRI"party, is that he was able to get a signed agreement with the 7 other candidates, who are all running also for the governor of Baja California, whom all have the qualities to be the candidate for the PRI party in these upcoming elections.

Jorge Hank, Fernando Castro Trenti, Carlos Bustamante, Enrique Pelayo, Panchito Perez Tejada, Humberto Lepe Lepe and the eternal candidate Eduardo Martinez Palomera, whom if you look at a picture of all of them standing together, it's like looking at the history that this party has gone through throughout the years. For example, there's the "PRI of the rich boys", the disciplined ones, the lifelong bureaucrats and the "gray ones" of always.

Go ahead and choose which one belongs where.

Camacho Quiroz also came to the city to make an announcement that there will be a convention of delegates prior to the elections. This process of democratization that is intended to start will just end up choking the party which we all have seen many times, where everything ends up in a big mess that affects the voters. From this point on the great question might be, if Peña Nieto is interested in the PRI party to regain control of Baja California?

What will it take to win?

In the case of Humberto Lepe Lepe, Enrique Pelayo, Eduardo Martinez Plaomera and Carlos Bustamante, age might be a factor.

Candidates from the old PRI might not be able to endure what being governor will take, since most of the population's age in Baja California range between 18-35 years old. However, some say that if it's about sacrificing yourself then Lepe Lepe has no problem doing just that.

Castro Trenti said that those in power should not be thinking of the PRI of Baja California, that many of them have already made what the party is today over the years.

The big problem here is that they (PRI) say that they want to come back and govern the state, but they don't say why or for what. And if we look into the results that they have had in their administrations in 5 municipalities, well then they will less likely tell us why.

In regards to Hank, the engineer only comes to offer the same as before, except this time he has a soccer team with him that he will bring along.

If he is successful in obtaining the bid for the candidate who will be representing the PRI for the race for governor, this will only feed his ego even more.

Now, let's not rule out the dinosaurs that will get dressed up for the occasion and who might end up leaving both Castro Trenti and Hank out of the race, which the participation of Panchito Perez Tejeda is already suspicious, who in the end is controlled by the engineer (Hank) and owner of the race track in Tijuana.

One important factor to be able to win the bid to be the candidate for the PRI is money, something that there is a lot of at the casinos at Caliente.

Could it be that the selection of the candidate by the delegates will end up like in any other "democratic process" of the PRI?

Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves here, because we all know that these descendants of the General Plutarco Elias Calles are not exactly characterized as having the democratic DNA in them, and much less when the names among the "Fantastic 7"have someone like, Fernando Castro Trenti, who has never won an election.

Why are the events in Baja California in July so important?

To begin with, it's the first election that the political party of Peña Nieto (PRI) will face in the region, and the way that things will be handled here during the elections, that will determine how the President and his party will behave towards the opposition.

Many are already expecting for the power of the state to land in the hands of those in power in the presidency. Historically, when the PRI governed Mexico for almost 76 years, those in power would appoint the next governor of every state that they could possibly get away with in doing so. And after the PRI lost the political power in Baja California, the presidency came next with Vicente Fox, which now a win in Baja California will mean a lot in many different ways. So keep in mind of all of these factors, in which will make these upcoming elections into a very interesting one.

P.S.: Be careful, don't forget that in the last presidential race, the PAN party had 7 candidates at the beginning, which was something that didn't work out. We will have to just wait and see if the PRI will run with the same type of luck.

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Omar.Martinez@sandiegored.com