Janio's Resurrection

"They thought I was a political cadaver," rang out the familiar, high-pitched voice across the public square in the industrial city of Campinas. "But the people, repeating the Bible, said 'Rise and walk,' and here I am." A year after he surprisingly abdicated Brazil's presidency and took a slow boat around the world, six months after his return to an uncertain political future, unstable, unpredictable Janio Quadros, 45, was hard on the comeback campaign trail last week, running for his old job as governor of Sao Paulo state.

It was as if he had never been away. Crowds saw the same disheveled hair, rumpled suit, and sweeping gestures, and heard the same messianic utterances. He promised them economic reform, abolition of large landholdings, curbs on foreign investments. "This is the campaign for the redemption of Sao Paulo and Brazil," he declared. He blasted the "powerful groups" and "foreign interests" that drove President Getulio Vargas, he said, "to suicide and led me to resignation."

At the beginning of the campaign, Quadros fluttered along with little following and no real backing. His old ally and successor, Sao Paulo's incumbent Governor Carvalho Pinto, had already thrown his support to Jose Bonifacio Nogueira, 39, the state's aristocratic agriculture secretary, and had lined up a formidable coalition including the National Democratic Union and Christian Democrats, two parties that in the past had backed Quadros. President Joao ("Jango") Goulart's Labor Party organization in Sao Paulo was also behind Bonifacio, although Goulart himself has been silent. Bonifacio is running on Governor Carvalho Pinto's impressive record of school and road construction, drably pledging that "What is good must continue."

Against such formidable opposition Quadros could only muster the support of six minor parties, ranging from the far right to the far left. But he soon recaptured his old magic with the crowds. Until a few weeks ago, newspapers ignored his campaign and poked fun at him. On the anniversary of his resignation, Sao Paulo papers headlined it as Dia da Fuga, day of flight. But Janio told a cheering crowd that election day, Oct. 7, will be Dia da Forra, day of redress. And slowly he has gained ground, especially among the lower classes, where his promises of economic reform and clean government strike home. He no longer talks about "if I'm elected," but speaks of "when I take office."

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