With voters keeping an eye on the World Cup, presidential candidates are studying progress in the period
With the ball rolling on the 2026 World Cup starting this Thursday (11), the pre-candidates for the Presidency of the Republic will have voters' attention also more focused on the football dispute, which will divide the news and conversations with politics. Meanwhile, each presidential team is studying how to move forward during this period of the games.
The assessment of the main pre-campaigns linked to the right is that the electoral race will only begin in an intense way after the World Cup, including with the start of the debates - a moment that is followed with great expectation, when each candidate is tested in real time -, the definition of the names for the vice-presidency on the tickets and the electoral advertisements themselves on national television. Still, you need to position yourself well and not let pre-candidacies cool down.
In the case of senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL), the arrival of the World Cup is seen by allies as a kind of breather. The latest polls raised a warning signal in the pre-campaign by showing a loss of support in voters considered independent and centrist.
The PL's initial plan was for Flávio to reach the end of the World Cup with a margin of five percentage points ahead of President Lula (PT) - a scenario already seen as more unlikely today.
Now, the World Cup period can be used to try to distance Flávio's image from recent controversies, such as the revelations involving Master's former banker, Daniel Vorcaro, and the new American tariff, which occurred after Flávio's visit to President Donald Trump. These episodes are pointed out as factors that damaged the moderate image that the candidate was trying to build to attract centrist voters.
Despite the wear and tear, Flávio's pre-campaign has a positive aspect: polls show that there was no transfer of votes to another name on the same political spectrum. In other words, there is, so far, no real threat of a strong third way on the right.
While working to rescue this part of the electorate, Flávio's allies are still betting on the expectation that a possible denunciation by Vorcaro could affect the PT in Bahia and members of the federal government.
It is precisely in the wear and tear caused by the controversies that other names on the right try to make room. The strategy of the former governor of Goiás, Ronaldo Caiado (PSD), is to present himself as the candidate with the content and proposals.
To this end, he intends to present his government plan in a divided manner, to facilitate voter assimilation and anticipate the discussion of proposals, based on his experience in the local Executive. The first topic should be public safety, with proposals that should be released by the end of the month. Subsequently, at first, the focus will be on education.
For the former governor of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema (Novo), the challenge is to become better known nationally, as well as his ideas. Furthermore, the pre-campaign identifies that voters still have difficulty distinguishing the differences in proposals and values between the various right-wing pre-candidates. The assessment is that this moment will still come. Until then, the intention is to try to expand our presence in the media and on networks.
Renan Santos (Mission), in turn, has the challenge of expanding and transforming the commitment he gets on social media into votes, and also becoming better known, despite not having a robust party infrastructure behind it.
Quaest: Lula leads with 39% in the 1st round; Flávio has 29% | LIVE CNN
Source: CNN