Noblat: The fate of the election is in the hands of the PSDB.

247 Columnist Ricardo Noblat states that the fate of the elections is in the hands of the PSDB party, since, according to him, it is the anti-PT vote that projects Marina Silva into an equal position with President Dilma Rousseff in a possible second round. Read more: 

Don't underestimate the PSDB.

The fate of this presidential election – the seventh since the country's redemocratization with the end of the 1964 dictatorship – rests in the hands of the PSDB voters. In the hands of those who intend to vote for Aécio because they consider him the best candidate, or those who will vote for him simply because they want to put an end to 12 years of PT governments.

This is what becomes clear from the most recent Datafolha poll on voting intentions.

In one week, Dilma's lead over Marina almost doubled. It went from seven percentage points to 13. Dilma has 40% and Marina has 27%.

But when Datafolha simulated a possible second round between the two, they appeared tied within the margin of error of the survey. There is only one explanation for this: it was the anti-PT vote that pushed Marina ahead of Dilma.

That's why, in this final week of the campaign, Dilma, Lula, and the PT will continue to have a bitter taste in their mouths against Marina. If she thinks she's taken enough hits, she's mistaken.

From now until next Thursday, the last day of election campaigning on radio and television, she'll take even worse hits. And if she makes it to the second round, you don't want to know. The onslaught brought Marina down. The onslaught could defeat her.

Everything Marina says is being used against her. And what she doesn't say, too.

For someone who intends to govern, Marina would be resistant to agreements that aren't on the left. The other day, however, she asked for votes for Paulo Bornhausen, son of a conservative politician from Santa Catarina, who is running for Senate for the PSB party.

Well, Marina was accused of defending the "New Politics," but practicing the old one. It's hellish!

Neca Setúbal, a shareholder of Banco Itaú, is portrayed in Dilma's campaign ads as Marina's banker. However, Kátia Rabello, former president of Banco Rural and a key figure in the PT's mensalão scandal, is in prison. That's a good thing for Marina.

Banks and construction companies finance the Lula Institute. There is no more successful lobbyist politician today than Lula, who became rich in a short time. Dilma's campaign is a champion in raising money from bankers.

Upon being elected president for the first time, Lula declared that hope had triumphed over fear. He was the hope. The fear was everything his adversaries used to try and prevent his victory.

Dilma has been saying that the truth will prevail over lies. As if she were the primary target of lies. Dilma is abusing lies to increase Marina's disapproval rating and – if possible – exclude her from the second round. She's terrified of her.
It's natural that Aécio aspires to face Dilma in the second round. If it's not possible to decide the outcome in the first round, all Dilma wants is to face Aécio in the second.

In Dilma's most important electoral strongholds, the North and Northeast, Aécio is weak. Marina is not. Aécio's voters would vote for Marina – or are already voting for her in second-round simulations. Marina's voters would be divided between Aécio and Dilma.

It's one thing for the PSDB to formally announce its support for Marina if Aécio doesn't make it to the second round. That's the only way. It's quite another to work hard to elect Marina.

At the end of 2005, when Lula was drinking heavily out of fear that he wouldn't finish his term because of the Mensalão scandal, the PSDB party gave up on requesting his impeachment. They thought Lula wouldn't be re-elected. Lula was re-elected. And then he elected Dilma.

This time, the PSDB may find that a second Dilma government, much worse than the first, might be better than governing with Marina.

The PSDB's capacity for making blunders should not be underestimated.