Classe média brasileira

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Brazil's middle-class has key to Lula re-election

By Raymond Colitt Reuters Tuesday, November 29, 2005; 10:20 AM

BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won Brazil's presidency in October 2002 largely with the support of middle-class voters who had warmed to the former factory worker after he abandoned left-wing rhetoric and adopted mainstream policies.

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With the next election less than a year away, however, polls show most average-income voters are disappointed with Brazil's first working-class president and are sorry they ever gave him a chance.
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While Brazil's rich and poor are better off than before Lula, the middle-class has been squeezed. A corruption scandal has also disappointed many.
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"Entertainment and anything superfluous, we've cut back. We used to go out for dinner once a week, now it's once a month," said Francisco Hernandez Herrera, who works in the construction business in Sao Paulo.
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"They say inflation is falling but everything is becoming more expensive. My water and energy bills are huge and we are not consuming more than before."
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Lula ran for president three times over two decades before he finally conquered Brazil's middle-class voters to win on his fourth try. He now has 10 months to reconquer them to win a second term.
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Ricardo Schmitt, a political analyst with Tendencias consultant firm in Sao Paulo, said the middle class was the key to Lula's reelection. But, he said: "Lula is losing the swing voters that brought him to power."
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A survey published by Sensus polling firm last week showed Lula's popularity among middle-income workers was far lower than among upper or lower classes.

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Among those earning what is defined as a minimum monthly salary of up to $135, only 37 percent disapproved of Lula, it said. Among those earning between 10 and 20 times the minimum, the disapproval rate jumps to 62 percent. Among the very wealthy, earning more than 20 times the minimum, the rejection rate again drops to 46 percent.
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Pollsters said another reason middle-income voters have abandoned Lula was because most were better informed about a corruption scandal that has gripped the government since June.
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The ruling Workers' Party has admitted illegally raising campaign funds and stands accused of buying votes in Brazil's Congress.
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"The higher the education, the stronger the criticism of Lula. He promised clean government and didn't deliver," Sensus president Ricardo Guedes said.
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