Underscoring the rapid pace of change in the political system, presidential
                  hopefuls have started coming out earlier and in greater numbers than ever
                  before. For the first time Mexican voters are experiencing what their U.S.
                  counterparts have endured for years: the marathon presidential campaign.

                  Here it is 16 months before the July 2000 election and politicians with
                  visions of the brass ring are challenging each other to debates, airing
                  high-profile television advertising and generally trying to elbow their way to
                  the forefront.

                  "It's wonderful. I love it," said Jeffrey Weldon, a political science professor
                  at Mexico City's ITAM University. "The campaigns were a little too
                  compact to be fair. Very short campaigns tend to help incumbents because
                  they're known and the opposition isn't known. Just giving the people a
                  chance to meet the candidates and know who they are is a good thing."

                  The break from the past could not be more startling. Mexico has been
                  governed by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) for 70 years, the
                  longest such run in the world.

                  Traditionally, the president would hand-pick his successor as PRI candidate,
                  a move known as the "dedazo" or big finger-pointing. It usually came in
                  October or November before the July election every six years, which the
                  PRI inevitably won. Opposition parties never made a move until the PRI
                  candidate was unveiled.

                  Zedillo shakes up the system

                  But upon taking office in December 1994, President Ernesto Zedillo
                  promised to chuck the old PRI selection system in favor of something more
                  democratic, and party officials are now leaning toward a primary election.

                  Zedillo also modernized the political system by shepherding through political
                  reforms that gave opposition parties a fairer chance at winning. Then an
                  opposition candidate jolted the status quo even more by announcing his
                  intention to run a full two years before the vote.

                  Vicente Fox of the National Action Party (PAN), the governor of central
                  Guanajuato state, has since surged in public opinion polls, dragging others
                  into the race "because they see the train going by," Weldon said.

                  Two PRI governors -- one current and one whose term just ended --
                  recently jumped into the fray. Manuel Barlett, the former governor of central
                  Puebla state, appears in TV ads pumping two clenched fists and promising a
                  government "with a firm hand." Southeastern Tabasco state Gov. Roberto
                  Madrazo in his commercials waxes, "Who says that it can't be done?"

                  Two men in Zedillo's cabinet -- Interior Minister Francisco Labastida and
                  Social Development Minister Esteban Moctezuma -- also have aspirations
                  and have been given an increasingly high profile in recent months.

                  Leftist party scrambles to catch up

                  On the left, the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) was caught
                  off-guard. Party stalwart and Mexico City Mayor Cuauhtemoc Cardenas,
                  the early front-runner, fell behind Fox in the polls. Then a rival within the
                  PRD, Congressman Porfirio Munoz Ledo, launched his presidential
                  campaign, forcing a reluctant Cardenas to throw his hat in the ring last week.

                  "For me it's a good thing, and for the majority of the population, too," said
                  Vicente Licona, who runs the Indemerc polling firm. "The people want to
                  know more. They normally didn't get to know the candidates until one of
                  them became president."

                  Of course the pollsters and pundits welcome the change. But what about the
                  people? There has yet to be a scientific poll on the issue but Mexicans at the
                  taco stands and shoe-shine booths seem to be in favor.

                  "It's fine by me that the candidates are starting now. This way we can get to
                  know them," said Miguel Garcia, 44, a newspaper salesman, ticking off a list
                  of names of hopefuls.

                  "I prefer to see the candidates and have an idea who to go with," added
                  Eusebio Gonzalez, 46, a construction worker. "It's better to see them
                  unveiled instead of not seeing them until the last minute."