Word of the day — El Edecán

Concise Oxford Spanish Dictionary © 2009 Oxford University Press:
edecán sustantivo masculino
1. ( Mil ) aide-de-camp
2. edecán sustantivo masculino y femenino (Méx) (acompañante) escort

Spanish, unlike English, is precise in assigning gender to all nouns. There are only a few exceptions where a noun ending in "a" is not feminine and it's usually a safe bet to assume that any noun ending in a consonant or an 'o' is masculine.

But, the presidential debate on Sunday night (May 6) turned the world upside down and gave a whole new and salacious meaning to "el edecán".

The candidate's debate for the presidential election was nearly upstaged by a former playboy model Júlia Orayen (Descember 2008) who sashayed across the screen wearing a low-cut white dress that left little to the imagination. She was distributing a ballot that would determine the order of questions and debates between the candidates, but her moves clearly had everyone watching thinking about double D. http://redpolitica.mx/ruta-electoral/quien-es-la-edecan-del-ife

The Mexican tweeter-verse went into overdribe and Monday's bloggers were all agog with their views about IFE and the debate. A tweet site was quickly established, and La Edecan Del IFE@LaEdecanDelIFE attracted more than 15,000 followers within short period of time. Links to her personal site were swamped with visitors trying to find out more about her. http://www.publimetro.com.mx/noticias/fotos-ella-es-julia-orayen-la-edecan-del-ife/mleg!OnIaBPMH8YEQ6/

And a wave of humour was unleashed in the aftermath of the appearance of Srta. Júlia Orayan. http://www.e-consulta.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=33255:la-edec%C3%A1n-del-ife-desata-humor-en-redes-tras-el-debate&Itemid=332, http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2012/05/08/index.php?section=cartones&id=0

There was considerable controversy before the debate about Televisa and TV Azteca's decision to broadcast a "liguilla" futbol playoff game on its main network and to relegate the first presidential debate to secondary channels across Mexico. But that controversy almost took second place to the one that emerged after la srta. Júlia strutted her stuff.

http://www.milenio.com/cdb/doc/noticias2011/f91d79fe958aaaaba01a70324e658d32
http://m.vanguardia.com.mx/niquadripudoresistirsealosencantosdelaedecandelife-1282319.html
http://www.elsiglodetorreon.com.mx/noticia/737891.critican-a-edecan-del-ife-por-vestido.html
http://conexiontotal.mx/2012/05/08/edecan-del-ife-encueratriz-con-lios-judiciales/

The organizers of the debate at the Instituto Federal de Elecciones (IFE) went into damage control and issued several apologies. http://www.proceso.com.mx/?p=306718
http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2012/05/07/el-ife-se-disculpa-por-la-vestimenta-de-la-edecan-del-debate-presidencial?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+cnnmexico%2Fportada+(Noticias)

Mexican broadcasters have always been powerful political brokers and players, and they have shown a disdain for the intelligence of the Mexican public. Emilio "El Tigre" Azcarraga Milmo is famous for saying that television is for "los jodidos" and that his programming at Televisa would play to that level. Perhaps IFE has simply borrowed that strategy.