Loser Chavez

Chavez loses constitutional vote which would have granted him dictatorial powers. The NY Times international edition, the IHT shows a photo of the ecstatic winners. On their flagship site here in the US they show the sad leftie losers, some solidarity there presumably for the dictatorship of Chavez, uh the proletariat. Times story:

The outcome is a stunning development in a country where Mr. Chávez and his supporters control nearly all of the levers of power. Almost immediately after the results were broadcast on state television, Mr. Chávez conceded defeat, describing the results as a “photo finish.”

“I congratulate my adversaries for this victory,” he said. “For now, we could not do it.”

Opposition leaders were ecstatic. “Tonight, Venezuela has won,” said Manuel Rosales, governor of Zulia State and the opposition’s candidate in presidential elections last year.

Amazing. There were no international election observers allowed in this time, so the defeat is even more astonishing. It must have been so decisive he couldn't credibly steal it. The results were announced "after long and unexplained delays". Former allies opposed the plan, including former members of his government and a charismatic student leader named Stalin Gonzalez.

And I imagine this exchange, which became a rallying cry, didn't help Chavez either.