In the final stretch of a weak presidential campaign that has seemed doomed for at least the last six weeks, Brazil's main opposition candidate Jose Serra has resorted to China-bashing and conspiracy theories.
It has been a rapid fall from grace for the former governor of Sao Paulo state, who is among Brazil's most accomplished politicians.
Polls showed Serra with a lead of over 10 percentage points in February but that evaporated quickly as soon as campaigning began in earnest, and he now trails ruling party candidate Dilma Rousseff by nearly 20 points.
While he has made some strategic errors on the campaign, Serra also simply seems to have been on the wrong side of history, overwhelmed by a ruling party that is enjoying Brazil's strongest economic expansion in decades.
Serra has landed few lasting blows against Rousseff or her political benefactor, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Deterred by Lula's 75-percent approval rating, Serra tried to focus on his own past as health minister in the 1990s, when his policies helped prevent an AIDS epidemic, but his main message -- "Brazil can do better" -- didn't take hold.
Rousseff's lead in polls has narrowed in recent days because of a corruption scandal in her party. But even that stumble has failed to lift Serra's support, with the votes going to a third-party candidate instead.
Polls show Serra losing by a wide margin in a runoff with Rousseff if she fails to win a majority of valid votes in Sunday's election.
Serra's PSDB party has been tagged during the campaign as 'elitist', a dreaded label in a country where the ascendant lower middle-class is dominating politics.
"We had the right message at the wrong time but we also lost touch with society, even before the campaign began," said a senior PSDB legislator.
"The worst thing is the opposition will come out of this election totally empty," he said on condition of anonymity.
Serra's pledge of clean and lean government appealed to some businesses leaders, who favored him for his experience and the centrist positions of his party. But with praise still echoing of Lula's anti-cyclical measures during the 2008/09 global financial crisis, Serra was swimming against the tide.
'EASIER PRODUCT TO SELL'
Rousseff's TV ads relentlessly touted Lula's successes in pulling more than 20 million people out of poverty over the last eight years.
Rousseff "had an easier product to sell but she also sold it better," said Fernando Lattman-Weltman, politics professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Rio de Janeiro.
Uncertain how to criticize a hugely popular president, Serra, 68, has veered from one message to another.
In a recent appearance on Globo TV's popular morning show, he spent considerable time bashing Lula's trade policy with China, saying it had resulted in a flood of cheap imports.
Then, last week, Serra blamed "electoral interests" for a major outage in the Sao Paulo subway, which could have damaged his reputation in some voters' minds because in TV ads he has touted the expansion of the system while he was governor.
"It's very strange," Serra said, without offering any explanation on how his opponents could have rigged an outage.
Disputes with allies early in the campaign also created an impression of disarray. His main ally, the right-wing DEM party, overruled his choice of vice-presidential running mate to name the inexperienced congressman, Indio da Costa, creating tension within his six-party coalition.
With few undecided voters left, analysts say Serra has little or no chance of making up ground in the coming days.
"It will be very difficult for Serra to win over Rousseff supporters," said Cristiano Noronha, a political analyst with Brasilia-based consultancy Arko Advice.
Serra lost to Lula in the 2002 presidential election and another lopsided loss might spell the end for the Cornell-educated economist, who has been involved in Brazilian politics since his student days in the 1960s.
However, he may be able to take solace in one fact: Lula lost three elections before finally becoming president.
Brazil's Serra likely to go out with a whimper | Reuters
Bash communism when you've got no card to play. It works wonders if you're not president
It has been a rapid fall from grace for the former governor of Sao Paulo state, who is among Brazil's most accomplished politicians.
Polls showed Serra with a lead of over 10 percentage points in February but that evaporated quickly as soon as campaigning began in earnest, and he now trails ruling party candidate Dilma Rousseff by nearly 20 points.
While he has made some strategic errors on the campaign, Serra also simply seems to have been on the wrong side of history, overwhelmed by a ruling party that is enjoying Brazil's strongest economic expansion in decades.
Serra has landed few lasting blows against Rousseff or her political benefactor, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Deterred by Lula's 75-percent approval rating, Serra tried to focus on his own past as health minister in the 1990s, when his policies helped prevent an AIDS epidemic, but his main message -- "Brazil can do better" -- didn't take hold.
Rousseff's lead in polls has narrowed in recent days because of a corruption scandal in her party. But even that stumble has failed to lift Serra's support, with the votes going to a third-party candidate instead.
Polls show Serra losing by a wide margin in a runoff with Rousseff if she fails to win a majority of valid votes in Sunday's election.
Serra's PSDB party has been tagged during the campaign as 'elitist', a dreaded label in a country where the ascendant lower middle-class is dominating politics.
"We had the right message at the wrong time but we also lost touch with society, even before the campaign began," said a senior PSDB legislator.
"The worst thing is the opposition will come out of this election totally empty," he said on condition of anonymity.
Serra's pledge of clean and lean government appealed to some businesses leaders, who favored him for his experience and the centrist positions of his party. But with praise still echoing of Lula's anti-cyclical measures during the 2008/09 global financial crisis, Serra was swimming against the tide.
'EASIER PRODUCT TO SELL'
Rousseff's TV ads relentlessly touted Lula's successes in pulling more than 20 million people out of poverty over the last eight years.
Rousseff "had an easier product to sell but she also sold it better," said Fernando Lattman-Weltman, politics professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Rio de Janeiro.
Uncertain how to criticize a hugely popular president, Serra, 68, has veered from one message to another.
In a recent appearance on Globo TV's popular morning show, he spent considerable time bashing Lula's trade policy with China, saying it had resulted in a flood of cheap imports.
Then, last week, Serra blamed "electoral interests" for a major outage in the Sao Paulo subway, which could have damaged his reputation in some voters' minds because in TV ads he has touted the expansion of the system while he was governor.
"It's very strange," Serra said, without offering any explanation on how his opponents could have rigged an outage.
Disputes with allies early in the campaign also created an impression of disarray. His main ally, the right-wing DEM party, overruled his choice of vice-presidential running mate to name the inexperienced congressman, Indio da Costa, creating tension within his six-party coalition.
With few undecided voters left, analysts say Serra has little or no chance of making up ground in the coming days.
"It will be very difficult for Serra to win over Rousseff supporters," said Cristiano Noronha, a political analyst with Brasilia-based consultancy Arko Advice.
Serra lost to Lula in the 2002 presidential election and another lopsided loss might spell the end for the Cornell-educated economist, who has been involved in Brazilian politics since his student days in the 1960s.
However, he may be able to take solace in one fact: Lula lost three elections before finally becoming president.
Brazil's Serra likely to go out with a whimper | Reuters
Bash communism when you've got no card to play. It works wonders if you're not president
