Rio De Janeiro Journal

Batman is running for office in the Brazilian city of Uberlandia. Not one but two James Bonds are seeking city council seats, in Ponta Grossa and Birigui. Elsewhere in Brazil, voters are being urged to cast ballots for candidates with names like Daniel the Cuckold and Elvis Didn't Die.

Brazil has nurtured one of the world's most vibrant democracies since its military dictatorship ended in 1985. As campaigning for municipal elections in October intensifies, this vitality is evident on the ballots, which reflect Brazil's loose restrictions on what candidates can call themselves.

Ballots are filled with superhero names (five Batmans are running this year), mangled versions of American television characters (like the Macgaiver running in Espirito Santo State, inspired by the "MacGyver" secret-agent series), and an array of raunchy nicknames.

"It's a marketing strategy, a political program, because if I said Geraldo Custodio, no one was going to recognize me," said Geraldo Custodio, 38, a teacher of driver's education who is running for city council with the name Geraldo Wolverine in Piracicaba, an industrial city in Sao Paulo State.

Mr. Custodio campaigns with long metal talons. One of his ads says, "Vote for the guy who has claws!"

There are the references to overseas personages, reflected in the 16 Obamas running in Brazil this year. Popular culture and religion also inspire: Ladi Gaga (sic) is running in Santo Andre, in the Sao Paulo area, while Christ of Jerusalem (Omedino Pantoja da Silva) lost a municipal election in Porto Velho, an Amazonian city, in 2008.

There are some limits to the names Brazilians can choose when running for office. The law stipulates that the names chosen should correspond to the candidates' nicknames or how they are commonly referred to.

Judges in some cities have had enough of some especially bizarre or vulgar-sounding election names, issuing injunctions to keep them off ballots.

Of course, some candidates have no need to resort to wild nicknames. These aspirants for office already have colorful names bestowed by their parents, reflecting the attention paid in the past in Brazil to some foreign political figures.

Jimmi Carter Santarem Barroso is running in Amazonas State; John Kennedy Abreu Sousa is running in Maranhao, in Brazil's northeast; and Chiang Kai Xeque Braga Barroso - whose first name evokes Chiang Kai-shek, the Chinese rival in the mid-20th century to Mao Zedong - is seeking to be elected in Tocantins State.

Justino Pereira, a political consultant in Sao Paulo, has advised numerous candidates in municipal elections, including one named Palhaco Zig Zag (Zig Zag Clown), who lost. He said candidates were inspired after another clown popular on television under the stage name Tiririca, which roughly translates as "Grumpy," won a seat in Congress.

"Using nicknames is an easy way to draw attention," Mr. Pereira said, "but doesn't necessarily make a lasting effect."

Taylor Barnes and Lis Horta Moriconi contributed reporting.

The New York Times

(China Daily 09/23/2012 page10)