First modification: 09/16/2022 – 13:34Last edit: 09/16/2022 – 13:33
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Brasilia (AFP) – Jair Bolsonaro “is chosen by God” to save Brazil and help women, says his wife Michelle. Once a discreet companion, the first lady has gained prominence in the campaign to keep evangelicals and tackle the difficult task of attracting the elusive female vote.
Until recently, Bolsonaro’s wife, a fervent Evangelical, was credited with quiet influence in government, most notably in appointing a Presbyterian minister as minister of education and first evangelical justice in the supreme court.
But when the 67-year-old president launched his campaign a month ago, Michelle, 40, took on a leading role.
Presented by Bolsonaro as “the most important person” in an act in Juiz de Fora (center-east), the photogenic first lady harangued hundreds of followers, praising God and attacking the “enemies” of the government that have aroused equal or even more enthusiasm for the speech of the far right.
In July, in another speech in Rio de Janeiro, Michelle described Bolsonaro as “chosen by God” to save Brazil and defended that her husband was the “president who sanctioned the most laws to protect women”, for example with improvements in health.
Women are the majority (53%) among the more than 156 million Brazilian voters, who will decide on October 2 whether to re-elect the former army captain or whether the left returns to power led by former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. the favorite in the polls.
According to the latest Datafolha poll published on Thursday, Bolsonaro is second, with 33% of voting intentions against Lula’s 45%. The gap is even greater among women alone (29% versus 46%).
That’s why his third wife came on the scene, according to analysts.
“You have the role” of making Bolsonaro “more attractive among women,” says Sergio Praça, political analyst at the Getulio Vargas Foundation.
An effective strategy?
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Bolsonaro, who often uses informal language and utters insults, is inundated with accusations of machismo. Just last week he dominated Brazilian patriotic celebrations with allusions to his alleged sexual potency.
According to analysts, women voters also accuse her of the lack of policies to counter the disproportionate effect on women of the economic crisis resulting from the covid pandemic, which killed 680,000 people in Brazil.
But Michelle sends the message that the president is “a conservative family man” and a “trustworthy” candidate, says Carolina Botelho, a researcher in political communication and public opinion at Rio Janeiro State University.
Its growing importance was also noted by the electoral authorities, who reprimanded it for exceeding the time allotted to the candidate’s allies in the TV commercials.
Two weeks before the first round, the inclusion of Michelle, however, is insufficient: Bolsonaro has just improved in the polls on the female electorate.
Michelle “could have reinforced [el voto de las mujeres] who were already with the president but could not approach those who were against it, “Botelho told AFP.
“Speak well to a fanatic audience (…) but not to the rest of the population,” he adds.
“God above all”
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The apparitions of the first lady also seek to strengthen the rapprochement between Bolsonaro, a Catholic, and evangelical voters, attracted by his defense of the “traditional” family.
Michelle has a history of social work in churches and a close relationship with pastors and leaders of the evangelical bloc in Congress.
“Its main strength is the evangelical electorate,” says Adriano Laureno, a political analyst at the consulting firm Prospectiva. Even the way of speaking about him “is very similar to that of the shepherds” with constant allusions to God and notions such as good and evil, he says.
Since the campaign began, Bolsonaro has extended his lead and currently has 49% of voting intentions among Evangelical voters, compared to Lula’s 32%, according to Datafolha.
According to estimates, nearly a third of the Brazilian population is Evangelical and its leaders estimate that they will be the majority in a decade.
Furthermore, polls show that a majority of voters believe that politics and religion must go hand in hand.
Something that Michelle takes into account in her speeches, repeating her husband’s motto: “Brazil first of all, God first of all”.
© 2022 AFP
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