Brazil’s Presidential Election: More Surprises to Come?

Juan Carlos Hidalgo The first chapter of Brazil’s presidential election was a roller-coaster: It kicked off with the country’s demoralizing exit from the World Cup, then its economy entered into a recession and widespread corruption charges engulfed the ruling Workers Party (PT). In August, Eduardo Campos, the candidate of the Socialist Party and a rising star in Brazilian politics, suddenly died in a plane crash.  His VP candidate, Marina Silva, also a charismatic figure, ran in his stead and experienced a meteoric rise in the polls to the point that two weeks ago she looked certain to defeat President Dilma Rousseff in a runoff. But Silva’s support steadily eroded in the last week, and yesterday it was Aécio Neves, from the Social Democratic Party (PSDB), who finished a strong second and will challenge the president in a runoff three weeks from now. With so many things going on, it’s difficult to pinpoint the precise factors behind the electoral result or predict what will happen next. But here are some of my impressions: Dilma’s performance: The president received 42% of the vote, which at first looks like a poor showing for an incumbent seeking reelection. However, it doesn’t look that bad when taking into account Dilma’s lack of charisma, the bad shape of the economy, and the pervasive corruption charges surrounding her Workers Party. She still finished first, 7 percentage points ahead of Neves. Undoubtedly, the Workers Party has built a strong cons...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs