Dilma Rousseff - Presidential Campaign

Presidential Campaign

On 13 June 2010, after more than two years of widespread speculation, Rousseff launched her campaign as the official presidential candidate for the Workers' Party in the 2010 presidential election. At that time, former São Paulo State Governor José Serra, candidate for the center-right opposition bloc, had been at the top of the polls for over two years. With promises of maintaining Lula's popular policies, Rousseff was able to surpass Serra in all the polls by late July. In spite of maintaining a wide margin over him, she did not receive 50% of unspoiled votes in the first round and had to face a run-off against Serra on 31 October, when she was elected with over 56% of the unspoilt votes.

Rousseff's coalition, For Brazil to keep on changing, was initially formed by nine political parties, which gave her the largest amount of time for advertisement on television. This was the first time that PT got more television time than its main rival, the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB). However, according to electoral law, television time had to be equal on the run-off. Rousseff's ads were noted for their professionalism and production quality, being rated as the best electoral program by 56% of voters.

Rousseff's candidacy was also supported by notable international figures, such as Puerto Rican actor Benicio del Toro, First Secretary of the French Socialist Party Martine Aubry, and American filmmaker Oliver Stone, who recorded a message on her behalf. Singer Alcione, Portuguese Brazilian economist Maria da Conceição Tavares, and journalist Hildegard Angel (daughter of Zuzu Angel and sister of Stuart Angel) also recorded messages on Rousseff's behalf. On 15 October, Tom Morello posted a message on his Twitter account supporting her candidacy, seen by him as representing "the poor, the working class and the youth."

On 18 October 2010, Brazilian artists and intellectuals held an event in the Oi Casagrande theatre in Leblon, Rio de Janeiro, in order to show their support to Rousseff's candidacy. Among them were Chico Buarque, Beth Carvalho, Alceu Valença, Elba Ramalho, Emir Sader, Oscar Niemeyer, Leonardo Boff, and Marilena Chaui. That same day, she received a letter of support by prominent members of the European Green Party, such as Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Dominique Voynet, Monica Frassoni, Philippe Lamberts, Noël Mamère, José Bové, and Yves Cochet. According to the letter, Serra represents "the worst in our society: gender bias, sexism and homophobia, along with the most shady and myopic economic interests."

Brazilian newspaper Brasil de Fato, as well as magazine CartaCapital both declared support for Rousseff's candidacy. Rousseff won the Presidency by an approximate margin of 56% to 44%, and took office on 1 January 2011, as the first woman president of the country. She became the third female head of government ever in the history of Brazil, and the first de facto female head of state since the death of Maria I, Queen of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves in 1816.

During her presidential campaign, Rousseff underwent a makeover, replacing glasses with contact lenses, undergoing plastic surgery and adopting a different hairstyle.

Bulgarian reaction

According to state-owned Bulgarian media, Bulgaria experienced "Dilma fever." The local media followed the presidential race in Brazil closely, interested in the election of a half-Bulgarian to rule over the 7th largest economy in the world. In an interview for the 24 Hours newspaper, Rousseff said that she "feel tenderness and love for Bulgaria. I can even say that to a certain extent I do feel like I am Bulgarian, even though I have never been in the country where my father was born. My father died when I was only fifteen years old and I did not have the chance to learn Bulgarian." On November 2010, an exhibition was held in Gabrovo about Rousseff's origins.

After Rousseff's election, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov promptly invited her for an official visit to the country. During her inauguration, he reiterated the invitation. Since her inauguration, Rousseff has received 21 letters from Bulgarian citizens.