Carlos Reutemann’s profile

Today Reutemann is the PJ leader enjoying the highest approval rating and the only figure who could win the presidential election over Elisa Carrió according to the last national poll conducted by Centro de Estudios Nueva Mayoría.

The governor of Santa Fe gathers 31% of positive approval rating, 26% of fair approval, 24% of negative approval and some 19% of respondents do not have an opinion of him yet.

Centro de Estudios Nueva Mayoría, national scope, 2,500 cases, February 2002

One out of three people has a definite positive approval rating and only one out of four has a negative opinion while one out of five has not responded.

According to the gender, while the positive opinion prevails both among men and women, it is slightly better among the former. Perhpas Reutemann’s sports image may influence that difference for car racing is preferably a men’s sport.

Gender	Positive	Fair	Negative	DK	Pos / Neg	Total
Men	34%	26%	25%	15%	1,3	100%
Women	28%	25%	24%	23%	1,2	100%

According to the educational level, the positive approval rating is higher than the negative in all segments, being quite similar among people with primary, secondary and higher education although the net positive image is slightly lower among people with secondary school studies. From this perspective, he is not the typical PJ member since sociologically speaking, the figures of this party are better viewed among people who have completed primary school only,

Education	Positive	Fair	Negative	DK	Pos / Neg	Total
Primary	33%	21%	26%	20%	1,2	100%
Secundaria	29%	29%	22%	20%	1,3	100%
Superior	33%	31%	25%	11%	1,3	100%

In terms of social segments, the image is higher as the socio-economic level decreases. He has 24% of positive image in the ABC1 segment (high and middle-high class), 31% in the C2C3 (middle and middle-low class) and 32% in the DE segment (low class and unsatisfied basic needs sectors)

Socio-economic level	Positive	Fair	Negative	DK	Pos / Neg	Total
ABC1 (High and mid-high)	24%	34%	31%	11%	0,8	100%
C2C3 (Low and mid-low)	31%	28%	25%	16%	1,2	100%
DE (Low and IBN sectors)	32%	23%	23%	22%	1,4	100%

According to age, Reutemann’s image improves as the age goes up although among young people the positive image is higher than the negative while they also report the highest degree of ignorance (27%).

Age	Positive	Fair	Negative	DK	Pos / Neg	Total
18 to 29 years	24%	28%	21%	27%	1,1	100%
30 to 42 years	29%	27%	26%	18%	1,1	100%
43 to 57 years	35%	24%	25%	16%	1,4	100%
Over 58 years	37%	24%	26%	13%	1,4	100%

According to employment, the best image is found among pensioners, the unemployed and housewives. The lowest approval is found in students, who have historically resisted the PJ.

Employment	Positive	Fair	Negative	DK	Pos / Neg	Total
Employed	30%	27%	27%	16%	1,1	100%
Unemployed	32%	24%	23%	21%	1,4	100%
Students	20%	26%	22%	32%	0,9	100%
Pensioners	40%	25%	25%	10%	1,6	100%
Housewives	30%	26%	22%	22%	1,3	100%

The geographical area where Reutemann’s approval is weakest is the Federal Capital reporting only 24% of positive rating. The image is slighlty higher in the Buenos Aires province perhaps because the Buenos Aires PJ advocates favor the Duhaldes. But in the interior of the country there is marked support reporting almost 2 opinions in favor for every one against.

Area	Positive	Fair	Negative	DK	Pos / Neg	Total
Federal Capital	24%	30%	30%	16%	0,8	100%
Buenos Aires province	26%	23%	33%	18%	0,8	100%
Interior of the country	34%	27%	20%	19%	1,7	100%

After analyzing 20 variables, Reutemann’s negative rating exceeds the positive approval in only 4 of them: employment (students), socio-economic level (middle-high and high class), 2 geographical areas (Federal Capital and Greater Buenos Aires). In the other 16 variables, the positive rating exceeds the negative.

a) Today Reutemann is the PJ leader with highest approval rating and the only one prepared to successfully dispute the presidential election with Elisa Carrió.

b) One out of three people hold a positive opinion of the Santa Fe governor while only one out of four have a negative opinion and one out of five have no opinion at all.

c) Reutemann’s approval according to gender, age, employment and socio-economic level shows that the difference among the different segments is more moderated than historically showed by the PJ figures.

d) This makes Reutemann the PJ figure least rejected by the middle sectors and non-PJ advocates and this helps explain why he is the most suitable PJ member to confront Carrió.