Throughout this Sunday (25), right at the beginning of the vote count, PT members were already counting on Lula's (PT) victory and, at least some of them, attributed the unprecedented turnaround in the Brazilian elections to the bad result of the head of government in the first round.
The reasoning is that the scare caused by the first vote instilled fear in the electorate of Flávio Bolsonaro (PL), triggering mobilizations on the streets and online in favor of the now re-elected president.
Never before had a candidate who came second in the first vote won a presidential election. The PT member had received 45% of the votes against Flávio's 47% in the first round. This Sunday, 51.78% of the valid votes were for Lula and 48.22% for the Bolsonarist.
The PT member had been growing in voting intention polls. Most surveys on the eve of the election, however, still showed him behind Flávio Bolsonaro.
On Saturday night (24), several of the president's allies reported having little hope, but cited the mobilizations as something that could provide a surprise in the vote.
The demonstrations, held in several cities across the country, were credited to civil society movements that were not part of the president's official campaign. A similar situation occurred on social media: the main movement was led by deputy André Janones (Rede-MG), who was not part of Lula's hard core.
This fear about the possibility of Flávio Bolsonaro being elected would also have been fundamental, in the opinion of PT members, to reduce abstention.
In the first round, 21.08% of voters did not go to the polls. In the second round, this percentage dropped to 19.22%. PT supporters mention the attendance of young and old people, mainly, as fundamental to the turnaround.
Abstentions fell in 19 states. Lula managed to improve his vote even in states where he lost. In São Paulo, for example, the PT member went from 38.2% of valid votes in the first round to 46.15% in the second. In Rio de Janeiro, the president's vote went from 39.41% to 46.90%; and, in Paraná, from 31.20% to 37.42%.
Furthermore, the head of government managed to increase his vote in regions where it had already been high in the first round. In Bahia, Lula's percentage went from 66.17% to 71.31%; in Ceará, from 63.29% to 68.93%; in Piauí, from 70.99% to 75.88%.
Parallel to the spontaneous movement, Lula reorganized his campaign in the days after the poor result of the first round.
Senator and former minister Camilo Santana (PT-CE) assumed the main political coordination tasks. The re-elected governor of Piauí, Rafael Fonteles (PT), gained influence over communication. And former minister and elected senator Rui Costa (PT-BA) became one of the main people responsible for the now re-elected candidate's agenda.
Lula also changed his stance regarding the first round. The president had initially focused his campaign speech on defending his current government. After the scare of the first vote, he began to present more proposals for the future and attack Flávio Bolsonaro more directly.
The campaign stimulated fear in the electorate about the possibility of losing social benefits if Flávio Bolsonaro was elected. It also highlighted in advertising pieces the fact that the opponent had defended a police officer identified as responsible for the death of a five-year-old girl.
On the eve of the vote, during the Globo debate, Lula gained points with the electorate by reacting energetically after his opponent had referred to him as "nine fingers" – Lula had one of his fingers cut off by a machine in his youth, when he worked as a metalworker.
Previously, the PT member had taken electoral appeal measures, such as debt forgiveness for MEIs (individual micro-entrepreneurs), and participated in important political acts, such as the promulgation of the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) which ends the six-day work schedule for one rest day.
Shortly after the result was confirmed by the TSE (Superior Electoral Court), Lula said that he will lead a different government from next year onwards and gave special thanks to the young and elderly.
"I would like to thank the Brazilian people, for the generosity they have shown me for a long time. And in this second round, I would like to thank the generosity of Brazilian youth, who took to the streets to defend democracy", he declared. He said he had never seen so many people in so many street events in the country.
"I want to thank the elderly. I saw many scenes today of people being carried by their grandchildren to go vote," said the PT member. Lula also mentioned Janones' role on social media, to "raise the morale of our troops."
"This election taught me many lessons. I can guarantee that we will change the way we govern this country. We will make the people participate more in our decisions. And I want to tell you that digital communication will gain a very large space in my government", stated the re-elected president.
