The Candidate remains an option for those who defend democratic principles despised by Bolsonaro. But the PT’s support for Venezuela, cases of corruption and fear of electing Lula’s “post” make it indigestible for many voters.
Still in the pre-election phase, PT chiefs indicated that they considered Jair Bolsonaro (PSL) their dream opponent in a second round. Research showed that any candidate would be able to defeat the former captain. This reading was fueled by Bolsonaro’s lack of campaign structure and his far-right speech.
Added together, these factors would end up leading moderate voters who were nostalgic for the Lula era to converge on the PT candidate, whether he was the former president himself or some substitute. The PT members still imagined they could count on the natural support of other presidential candidates and centrist parties fearful of a Bolsonaro victory.
They weren’t the only ones. Candidates such as Ciro Gomes (PDT) and Geraldo Alckmin (PSDB) also pointed out that it would be easy to defeat the former captain. But the PT members seem to have gone further, even sparing Bolsonaro for most of the campaign leading up to the first round. Former minister José Dirceu said that the PSL candidate was a problem for the PSDB and DEM.
However, Bolsonaro’s amateur and radical campaign not only managed to take him to the second round, but also narrowly failed to guarantee him a victory last Sunday. The authoritarian speech of the retired military officer also did not alienate voters.
Instead of being the ideal opponent, Bolsonaro took advantage of the baggage of problems and contradictions that the PT members brought with them to the campaign, adding a toxic dose of distortions and gross lies that were spread through their web of support on social networks.
A good part of the electorate bought the speech and directed their anti-PTism towards the former captain. Lula’s PT and its candidate Fernando Haddad seem to have become Bolsonaro’s dream opponents.
It is in this scenario that Haddad’s campaign is now trying something never recorded in a second presidential round in Brazil: a turnaround. It will not be easy. The first post-first round poll showed the PT member at a disadvantage, 16 percentage points behind.
To make matters worse, the support of other important candidates also seems distant. Resentment towards the PT does not seem to be only on the part of the electorate, but also on the part of presidential candidates who are on the same political spectrum as the PT members, such as Ciro Gomes (PDT). He avoided endorsing Haddad, who had to settle for “critical support” from the PDT.