Noblat: 'tightrope walker', Campos gains points on JN
Columnist Ricardo Noblat says that, in an interview with Jornal Nacional, socialist presidential candidate Eduardo Campos did not present himself as the candidate of continuity, but neither of the opposition; he remained somewhere between "a generic version of Dilma Rousseff and Aécio Neves"; "This doesn't mean he did badly in the interview. He used it, for example, to highlight his connection with Marina Silva, the biggest political asset, after Lula, that any candidate would want to have."
247 Columnist Ricardo Noblat believes that Eduardo Campos (PSB) gained points in the interview he gave to Jornal Nacional.
According to him, despite demonstrating a balancing act to establish himself as a third option in the presidential race, he did well by highlighting his alliance with Marina Silva, "his biggest campaign asset after Lula," according to Noblat. Read more:
The tightrope walker Eduardo Campos, by Ricardo Noblat
What was the purpose of Eduardo Campos, the PSB candidate for president of the Republic, who was recently interviewed on Jornal Nacional?
He doesn't speak ill of Lula. He speaks ill of Dilma. He doesn't present himself as the candidate of continuity, but neither is he the opposition candidate.
Between Marina Silva, his vice-presidential candidate, considered an enemy of agribusiness, and agribusiness itself, he says he'll side with Marina. But in reality, he hopes to garner votes from agribusiness.
He is against nepotism. He was the first governor of Pernambuco to implement the law that punishes nepotism. So why did he campaign to elect his mother as a minister of the Federal Court of Accounts?
To be or not to be – what? A generic version of Dilma? A generic version of Aécio? That is the question.
A third-party candidate is pretty much that. They don't have – and won't have – an easy life in a country that has been divided between the PT and PSDB for 20 years.
This doesn't mean he did badly in the interview. He used it, for example, to highlight his connection with Marina, the biggest political asset, after Lula, that any candidate would want to have. He mentioned her several times.
He used a comparison that wasn't originally his, but that hardly matters. It's clever and curious. He said that Brazil loses 7-1 – inflation of almost 7% against economic growth of around 1%. Or less.
And he crafted a killer phrase, if it truly sticks in people's memories. The phrase:
The Dilma government will leave the country in worse shape than it received it.
The phrase resonates with the diffuse sentiment that seems to prevail among Brazilians.
Did Eduardo gain or lose points with the interview on Jornal Nacional?
He must have won a few.