Ciro and Boulos were, indeed, the winners of the first presidential debate on Band.
Of all of them, Boulos seemed the most focused. He criticized Bolsonaro and briefly stated what he wants to do. He manages to present himself to an audience tired of the same old speeches. Ciro stands out for his inertia and the inefficiency of a crude and unqualified right wing.
With the URSAL meme trending on social media and Google's live data, one thing became clear on August 9th: Ciro Gomes and Guilherme Boulos were the real winners of a debate without Lula or the PT representative. In the first free sample of the 2018 campaign, one name made noise from beginning to end and generated almost no repercussion: Jair Messias Bolsonaro.
Bombarded by Boulos in the first round, who called him racist and sexist, Jair Bolsonaro gave a response that was far too mild. He only said that Guilherme Boulos "invades properties." Behind the scenes, the tension between the two deepened, according to a report on the UOL portal. But nothing came of it.
The one who stole the spotlight from Bolsonaro was a former PSOL member and current candidate for PATRIOTA (formerly PEN): Cabo Daciolo. With a speech titled "in the name of the living Jesus and against the communists," the only thing the caricature-presidential candidate managed to do was overshadow Jair Bolsonaro and antagonize Ciro Gomes. Ciro simply responded, making faces and revealing that the so-called URSAL is a delusion worthy of the Brazilian far-right, given its conspiracy theories about customs and conservatism.
This went down bitterly for Geraldo Alckmin and Marina Silva. Alckmin, with Ana Amélia, is trying to win over the crazy Bolsonaro voters. Marina remains in the "sacred kingdom of Isentópolis," but she doesn't excite anyone and doesn't seem to really want to be heard.
Álvaro Dias placed his bet on Sérgio Moro and Lava Jato, but he's not convincing anyone, being a former member of the PSDB party. Henrique Meirelles seems to function more as a lightning rod for Temer's coup attempt: he defends the current government with incomprehensible tenacity.
Of all of them, Boulos seemed the most focused. He criticized Bolsonaro and briefly stated what he wants to do. He manages to present himself to an audience tired of the same old speeches.
Ciro stands out for the inertia and inefficiency of a crude and unqualified right wing.
This isn't just the opinion of this humble author; it's supported by live Google data from a service contracted by Band itself. This data illustrates how Ciro and Boulos grew in popularity, even during the Bolsonaro wave.
* This is an opinion article, the responsibility of the author, and does not reflect the opinion of Brasil 247.