The Clown Candidate

Much ado has been made about Tiririca, the clown and TV comedian running for congressman in Sao Paulo. While Brazilians from all over the country are pledging to vote for the silly candidate (even though you can only vote for him if you live in Sao Paulo), others are up in arms.

From the BBC: "Tiririca - which means "Grumpy" in colloquial Portuguese - has been the sensation of the election campaign, with humorous campaign adverts on YouTube that have attracted millions of hits. His campaign slogans include 'It can't get any worse' and 'What does a federal deputy do? Truly, I don't know. But vote for me and I will find out for you.'"

Now, a judge has threatened to force Tiririca to take a literacy test after rumors spread that he was illiterate, which could ruin his chances of holding office if he is elected.

 

But Tiririca isn't the only unusual candidate running in these elections. There's Romario, the famous football player, running for congressman in Rio, Suellem Rocha, or Mulher Pera (Pear Woman), a model running for Congress in Brasilia. According to one source, there's also a whole other host of celebrities running for congressmen and women: two other comedians in Sao Paulo, four well known singers running in Sao Paulo and Rio, a boxer from Sao Paulo, two football players (also paulistanos), a former reality show star, and a famous transsexual singer. Here's a couple of them:

 

There's a couple of reasons so many celebrities are in the running. First, as the BBC points out, the system is built as "open list proportional representation" which also allows parties to push through more candidates. Brazil's party system is extremely fractured, and in some ways, parties serve a similar role that interest groups serve here in the US. Unlike the rigid two party system in the US, Brazilian political parties are extremely numerous and very flexible in their beliefs. Politicians sometimes bounce from party to party, or even create new ones to serve certain interests or groups (for example, football clubs have been known to sponsor candidates). It is for this reason that some analysts are saying this year's presidential candidates seem to be showing very little political differences in their promises, despite being on opposite ends of the ideological spectrum, and that voters are having trouble distinguishing between the party platforms. Dilma's success, some say, is largely due to Lula's popularity and his endorsement, as well as the stable and thriving economy.

Anyway, as far as the wacky congressional candidates go, there's another reason I think there are so many. Some Brazilians are fed up with politics and the system, tired of voting for change and not getting any, and sick of constant corruption scandals. When you lose faith in system, there's a kind of gratification in seeing others make fun of it, and a feeling that there's not much to lose voting for a clown (literally). Which is worse: an idiot who won't do anything, or a sleezeball who will steal your tax dollars?

On the other hand, other voters who really are hoping for a better system are offended that just when Brazil is on the upward climb with a strong democracy, actual candidates are mocking the entire institution. They've working toward a serious institution (or at least, hoping to vote for one), and these types of candidates seem to promote the idea that the government is just a huge joke.

I can commiserate with both sides, given how much of a joke the US Congress has been in recent years. But in the end, the beauty of democracy is allowing anyone to run, and allowing the people to choose who they want to serve them. So if a clown is the people's choice, that's who must be allowed to govern - or at least try. But as someone from the land of George Bush and Sarah Palin, believe me - I sympathize.

Comments

[Ray Adkins]

Rachel,

Very good post.
Now the you mention Bush and Sarah Palin are on the same level as Tiririca if you ask me :)

Ray

[Simone]

haha. Good one, Rachel! So you know the feeling... but it seems that the problem with Tiririca (besides the obvious one), is that his winning the election means to elect with him some other bad candidates along. That's why he is getting a lot of support ($$$) from the party and vice-versa. See this charge: http://charges.uol.com.br/2010/09/28/

Now, it would be funny if it was not sad. But ironically, the clown is disputing along with Maluf, which to me is the biggest joke of all.

By the way, I just came across the FT article on Lula (I have it in English so will send it to you by email tomorrow) here in Portuguese http://blogs.estadao.com.br/radar-economico/2010/09/27/colunista-do-ft-tenta-desvendar-culto-a-lula/ and this disgraceful Sunday's article on another British paper (ironically) "The Independent" http://tinyurl.com/244hqby

Just be careful, you might throw up from reading the second article.

[polyana]

hey rachel!

the ACTUAL reason Tiririca & Mulher Pera, etc. are running is so that the public will, as you said, cast "protest votes" or just votes based on their popularity since a large portion of the population barely knows any of the candidates because of our multiple party system (myself included! it's HARD to keep up!) - and the sad news is - if Tiririca gets a certain amount of votes, these votes go to him and his party, and he's allowed to bring in 4 non-elected sleazeballs into Congress with him. So for them, it's a win-win, but unfortunately for us, it's a lose-lose. =/ This happened a couple of years ago when Enéas Carneiro was elected, and he and the members of his party (who he was able to rope in with his record votes) were accused of all sorts of theft/scandal.

So despite it being a joke, there are ardent protests going on here in SP to NOT VOTE for Tiririca or any of these other silly candidates, because it won't be much of a "protest"

[mallory elise]

obviously i don't vote, but the celebrities do kinda worry me. Tiririca's campaign is really strong, everyday i see it in the evening spot and on the radio. i joked in the car the other day "ahh! 2222 is the only number i know!" and H said "well, it's probably the only number most voters know". i asked if he thought he would win, he said "if i know my country, then yes. he will win for sure." then i saw the add with the woman who is the famous transvestite on tv and she was wearing something a whore wouldn't even wear! i said "this is not the image brazilians want the world seeing of their country!" it's disturbing, ok democracy, but it makes Brazil seem like a joke. then H said its all about the party using them for more votes, so i guess that makes sense. Dems vote Dems for the party, not for the candidate and reps too. so. he compared it to schwarzenegger and Ronald Regan, but at least they acted professional about it, right?