What are the personal assets and liabilities that Rousseff would bring into the competition?
MSSB: Dilma brings administrative and managerial experience in an area [energy] that is very important for the country. She has a political past that involved participating in the struggle for democracy, and she was a political prisoner. She is a woman, and women are currently gaining more and more representation in the political arena in Brazil. They also make up more than half of the electorate. Moreover, Dilma herself comes from the upper middle class, so not only does she know this sector of the electorate but she also stands to benefit from the electorate’s aspirational drive. However, on the negative side, Dilma has no experience in electoral contests, and there is a sense that she lacks charisma. She has not held any elected position nor has she been a member of Congress. Neither is Dilma an organic candidate of her party as she is a comparatively new member of the PT, which she joined in 2000 after an internal dispute in the Democratic Labour Party [center-left]. Though the PT’
