Mexicans watched with amazement as President Bush who has angered many on the world stage but is preferred by U.S. voters won a second term in office. While there was little doubt Bush would face a hefty task if he wanted to overhaul his image abroad, there was uncertainty over whether he would ever be interested in a global popularity contest.
"He does not need to be loved by the world, he got 59 million votes," Mexico City political scientist Federico Estévez said. "We do not understand America anymore." Bush showed the United States doesn't fear acting alone and that despite an unpopular war and an economy that hasn't turned the corner, he still can be re-elected, Estévez said.
The United States is the world's only superpower and the rest of the nations are going to have to get used to how it does business, he added.
But political analyst Sergio Aguayo said while the world should respect the United States' right to choose a president, Bush is on track for continued trouble abroad.
"There is the underlying question that will eventually surface and create problems: How is the United States going to resolve that source of antiAmericanism throughout the world that has come as a result of the Bush presidency?" He pointed out that if the world voted, Bush wouldn't return to the White House.
Bush's friendship with President Vicente Fox appeared to take a beating when Fox didn't support the war in Iraq, but Wednesday Fox penned a "Dear George" letter of congratulations, according to a copy released by Fox's office.
There also is a feeling Bush abandoned Mexico when he dropped promises of an immigration accord to help Mexicans to work in the United States.
On the streets here, there was appreciation for the U.S. economy staying relatively strong at least compared to Mexico under Bush, but there was mistrust and anger over his foreign policy.
Retirees Elias Reyes Mendéz, 73, and his wife, María Tenorio Cano, 68, who were visiting from the coastal city of Tampico, said Bush was an honorable man and a good president but that they won't forgive him for using the 911 attacks to justify invading Iraq.
"He is the big cheese, he controls everything," Tenorio said.
As he drove his cab through the city, driver Armando Ramos, 45, sounded surprised when he heard U.S. election results. "The bogeyman won, again?"
