Flying his helicopter, João Doria looks for votes with the speech that he's not political

As soon as the helicopter prefix black and gold PP-JDJ with the initials of the owner's name finished takeoff on the evening of June 29, in São José dos Campos, São Paulo, the occupant of the chair The co-pilot advised the other pbadengers: "Here I am going to take". It would be a 20-minute flight to Sao Paulo. João Doria Júnior, from the PSDB, was on the way back. His appointments before the campaign had gone well and he wanted to relax. He then asked for control of the plane. To be responsible, whatever it is, it is the vice of the toucan, who left the post of mayor of São Paulo three months ago, after only one year and three months of tenure to try to be governor.

Three months after election, Doria is the leader, according to polls. However, his performance is the worst of a toucan since the 2006 elections. His voting intentions range from 19% to 29%, according to a research institute, while his predecessors José Serra and Geraldo Alckmin had higher levels at 44% at this stage. He and his campaign see Márcio França, of PSB, the current governor of São Paulo as the biggest opponent. Until the end of the year, France controls a budget of 217 billion reais and shares with Doria the support of Gerald Alckmin, candidate for the PSDB presidency.

Since the entry into office of France in April, the climate is bad. In May, councilors placed both to speak. France came to the meeting, in the Toucan house, with a present: a Cuban cigar. A few days before, Doria had called the opponent of "Márcio Cuba", because he was from PSB, identified with the left, something that Doria considers negative. The former mayor, who does not smoke or drink, has accepted the joke. During the meeting, France asked Doria that the two parties did not tumultualize the campaign with denunciations.

The one and a half hour conversation ended with an agreement that did not last 24 hours. "It polarizes in a way that does not go back in. I think it's almost impossible to get along with the PSB," said the president of the group. Legislature and coordinator of the meeting, Cauê Macris (PSDB) .The day after the meeting, France learned that the PSDB had filed against him another request for investigation at the public prosecutor's office. to embarrbad the mayors allies of Doria with the suspension of the retrocession of resources. "It was clear that it was difficult to maintain an agreement because the army below would not respect", declared a member of the campaign.

Since then, Doria has given mayors secret dinners for support.No photo, video or social media registration – something unthinkable before for him – more 20 meetings with about 15 politicians each Taurant Rubaiyat, now at the Minister Gilberto Kbadab, PSD, which is the bridge between Doria and other parties. "It was the way to speak privately with the mayors of the PSDB and other parties without them being threatened with reprisals by the government," said one organizer.

At least twice a week, Doria goes to regional political meeting. Early in the afternoon of Saturday, he wore dark jeans in the same color of navy blue polo and camel-colored suede loafers and suede belts when he embarked in São Paulo and went to Caraguatatuba, on the north coast of the state. He landed next to Marina Juqueriquerê (of the Tupi-Guarani sleep factory), where he was surrounded by reporters. Nearby, the former mayor of the PSDB, Antonio Carlos da Silva, was nervous. "Are you going to bring people in? It's coming to an end soon," he told a Doria advisor. He was in distress because some of his election cables were leaving, disappointed that the DEM TV presenter, José Luiz Datena, who would run for the Senate, had given the floor to the event. Doria was a little embarrbaded, but he went around. "Datena is the coalition's candidate for the federal Senate." On Monday 9, however, the unpredictable Datena surprised the Doria retailer and gave up the offer.

On a platform about 15 centimeters tall, Doria climbed onto a yellow plastic chair – "so I can see you better" – to speak. He repeated the formula for the 2016 campaign. "I am a manager, I am not a politician" were his first words. Beside Kbadab, the deputy Rodrigo Garcia, DEM, and other deputies, mayors and councilors, he said: "I want to save here that many of those who are in politics are already doing the right policy."

He emphasized his personal program. He spoke of the financial difficulties of childhood that contrasted with his current status as a millionaire, values ​​like family, and often called for mantras of mutual aid. "People who have not suffered are not complete," he said, and then engage in a dramatic pause and ask people not to give up the shifting politics and to appear to vote in October. "The only attitude you can not accept or promote is to cancel your vote, not to vote or to travel at the time of the vote.This gesture does not signal a protest, but it helps to choose the worst", he said. The high rates of abstention and the intention of blank and empty votes both worry his team and the possibility of having to play a second round.

Doria can repeat these slogans anywhere, except in the capital of São Paulo. In the city that ruled for a year, where is a quarter of the state electorate, he has difficulties. Research shows that their rejection among Paulistas is 55%, compared to 39% at the state level – both indices are the highest among all pre-applicants. Analysts attribute the poor performance in the city to an early exit in April and broken promises. Its privatization plan, with the sale of the Anhembi Complex and the Interlagos Racecourse and the Pacaembu Stadium concession, has not yet pbaded the bureaucratic stage. Bridging the gap in child care during the first year of management was another unfulfilled commitment. In the middle of the way, the goal was changed to create 65,000 vacancies, of which less than 30,000 were delivered.

Yet, in theory, Doria has an enviable position against her competitors. It has the largest party coalition to date – PSDB, PSD, DEM, PP, PRB and PTC. More than three acronyms will be announced shortly – PHS, PTC and PRP. Having a stated capital of about 180 million reais, it has something rare among 95% of candidates: money. Since his departure from the town hall, he travels inland by helicopter or plane, prefix PR-JDJ. In this one, in the Doria style, there is no room for the informality of politicians. Pbadengers are invited a few days before, receive a schedule for WhatsApp and they get slippers to cover their shoes and do not dirty the carpet.

His campaign structure is to envy opponents and even presidential candidate Geraldo Alckmin. Doria distributes a two-story property on United Street, one of São Paulo's most expensive. Another property is about to open in the capital to house a support center for candidates for the duties of deputy. Doria promises all supporters campaign materials and free social networking tips. In this way, your platform is never empty. The events of your pre-campaign are worked as overproduction. In the Brazilian World Cup games, he had a pair of official Seleção jerseys – yellow and blue – with the name of the pre-candidate and the staff, "Accelerate", to follow the matches. In any area of ​​the state where Doria is located, there are employees duly dressed in personalized blue t-shirts and stickers distributed under the slogan "John the Worker". In Caraguatatuba, EPOCA saw an activist linked to former mayor Antonio Carlos da Silva, who works for the candidacy of a girl in the state, distributing stickers bearing the number 45 of the PSDB, this which is prohibited by law. Before August 15, pre-candidates can hold a meeting, promote public acts, but can not request a vote or promote nominations.

There is still speculation on the name of Doria as an alternative to Geraldo Alckmin in the presidential election. A dinner with President Michel Temer this month in Brasilia has revived speculation and forced the toucan to publish a public note on Friday 6 reaffirming its support for Alckmin. His posture stimulates rumors. In his speeches, he talks a lot about Brazil. In the marina of the "sleeping plant" in Caraguatatuba, he referred to the country 12 times in 26 minutes of speech, while the mentions in São Paulo were only three. Alckmin was recalled by the missing pre-candidate three minutes to the end, when he argued that the option on the far right, not to mention presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro (PSL), is not going in Brazil. "I want to declare that my candidate for President of the Republic is Geraldo Alckmin, it is for him that I work and for him I ask that they work too."

Part of the 39; Doria electorate declares to vote in Jair Bolsonaro, of the PSL, one of the candidates who take the votes of Alckmin in São Paulo. The hardening of the public safety discourse – and the promise of more money for health – brings Doria closer to the former captain 's sympathizers. "Let's go back to the placement of the police in the streets – he's a policeman on the street and a hooligan in the prison," he said, in a sentence reminiscent of Paulo Maluf's "Rota na rua". In the 1980s, Alckmin and Doria entered into an agreement at the end of May in a commercial hall that the PSDB rents as a political office of the presidential candidate in Itaim District, São Paulo. From August, Alckmin will participate in public events with Doria – and with Márcio França