López Obrador's media strategy was to contrast his prosecution with that of killings attributed to previous governments (1968, 1971) and financial scandals (1994-1995) where almost no convictions were made (but heavy fines applied in some of the latter), and emphasizing his status as the leader in the polls. He also compared himself with Francisco I. Madero, a political candidate in 1910 who was imprisoned by dictator Porfirio Díaz and eventually became leader of the Mexican Revolution and the next president. He also has compared himself with international civil rights activists who suffered prison at some moment of their life. He also claims his process to be a political plot orchestrated by, among other top politicians, former president Carlos Salinas de Gortari, former President Fox, and PAN presidential pre-candidate Santiago Creel.