Fernando Haddad has the oddest job in Brazilian politics: standing in for Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as his far more popular mentor tries to win the presidency from a prison cell. The former Sao Paulo mayor was picked Sunday by the leftist Workers’ Party as running mate on Lula’s presidential ticket in October elections. But as VP to a political giant who leads opinion polls yet is serving a 12-year sentence for corruption, Haddad finds himself in a peculiar position. “Haddad has the role… at this moment to be the voice of the president in the day-to-day campaigning. He’s a representative of Lula,” Workers’ Party president Gleisi Hoffmann explained. Or as political blogger Fernando Brito wrote: “Lula is the man. And Haddad has to be the man of the man.” Lula, who served two terms as president from 2003-2010, has not only been put behind bars. He has lost an appeal and under clean slate laws that might be enough to keep him off the ballot. The Workers’ Party still insists that Lula will take part and his lawyers say they can persuade the courts to offer an escape route. With around 30 percent support in the polls — far ahead of his nearest presidential rivals — fervent supporters basically believe that Lula is too big to fail. If Lula does somehow get confirmed on the ballot, Haddad’s VP adventure would come to an abrupt end. According to the party’s plan, a younger up-and-coming female politician from Brazil’s communist party, Manuela D’Avila, would take Haddad’s place. However, if Lula were definitively banned — the more likely scenario — humble Haddad’s journey might be just beginning. The placeholder would suddenly become number one and D’Avila would be his running mate. Brazilians would now be considering the possibility of a President Haddad. Lula’s coattails At 55, Haddad has a solid political resume. But he’s always been riding the coattails of his party’s 72-year-old founder and guru. A trained lawyer and longtime academic, he served as education minister under both Lula and Lula’s handpicked successor Dilma Rousseff, who won the presidency in 2011. Published in Daily Times, August 10th 2018.