BY OLIVER STUENKEL
NOVEMBER 4, 2021
Five reasons a “third way” candidate will struggle to break through in a polarized contest.
SÃO PAULO – After a few days of business meetings in São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro, the international visitor may be forgiven for thinking the winner of next year’s presidential election could well be someone other than President Jair Bolsonaro or former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. After all, a growing roster of seemingly affable, center-right politicians are projecting themselves as contenders, promising to steer clear of the turbulent rivalry between Bolsonaro and Lula and his Workers’ Party.
The buzz for a “third way” candidate is big – at least in Brazil’s urban centers. Even on Faria Lima Avenue, the heart of Brazil’s financial center in São Paulo, bankers who once supported Bolsonaro are now dreaming of an alternative to the president, who has embraced full-blown economic populism.
Just look at the increasingly bitter struggle between João Doria, the governor of São Paulo, and Eduardo Leite, the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, for the nomination of the center-right PSDB. Ample media coverage would suggest both have a real…
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