Editing Irene Sáez (section)

===1998: Presidential campaign===
{{See also|1998 Venezuelan presidential election}}
{{cleanup|section|date=November 2016|reason=the section needs inline sourcing for controversial statements and the removal of unsourced editorializing.}}
Sáez kept her distance from mainstream parties for as long as she could, and in 1997 formed the Integrated Representation of New Hope (IRENE) Party as a launch pad for her eventual run in the [[1998 Venezuelan presidential election|December 1998 presidential elections]]. In the final poll of the year in December 1997 she reached almost 70% support – just one year prior to the presidential elections.<ref name=McCoy>{{Cite book|title=The unraveling of representative democracy in Venezuela|last=McCoy|first=Jennifer|publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]]|year=2006|isbn=0801884284|editor-last=Myers|editor-first=David J.|editor-mask=McCoy, Jennifer, Myers, David J. (eds.)|location=Baltimore|language=en|chapter=From Representative to Participatory Democracy?|oclc=225220185}}</ref>

Despite spending millions of dollars on publicity, Sáez fell below 15% within six months, as the public became increasingly skeptical of her readiness for the presidency and she lost credibility as an anti-establishment candidate after accepting the endorsement of [[COPEI]], an invitation analysts now see as a political trap for a candidate ahead of her times.<ref name=McCoy/>

Sáez won the internal COPEI primary election with 62.7% of the vote, against [[Eduardo Fernández (Venezuelan politician)|Eduardo Fernández]]'s 35.7%, at a convention with 1,555 COPEI delegates taking place at a Caracas hotel, an endorsement earned after [[COPEI]] realized their original male candidate was unable to win. Its leaders ascertained their best bet to remain competitive nationally was to replace him with the charismatic yet independent Irene Sáez, transforming her into the first independent and female candidate supported by a major political party for the presidency of Venezuela.{{citation needed|date=November 2016}}

Sáez was credited with bringing to national politics the voice of Venezuelans disenchanted with politics as usual, wrapped in the familiar sophistication of a global beauty queen with ties to the elite class. Because of her physical attractiveness and ability to speak, public newspapers like ''El Nacional'' described her television appearances as "Reaganesque". To make herself more politically familiar, Sáez adopted Argentina's [[Eva Perón]]'s hair style and fiery language of social revolution. Her speech preceded [[Hugo Chávez]]'s, as she was a presidential candidate for years before him. Sáez ran on a platform of ending corruption, reducing bureaucracy and refinancing public debt. Her campaign slogan was "a revolution is possible".{{citation needed|date=November 2016}}

COPEI's former president, [[Rafael Caldera]], pardoned Chávez for the attempted coup against Pérez, from the opposing [[Democratic Action (Venezuela)|Democratic Action]] party, making possible his eventual ascendance to power.{{citation needed|date=November 2016}}

Ultimately she finished a distant third with 2.82% of the vote.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cne.gob.ve/web/documentos/estadisticas/e006.pdf|title=Elecciones Presidenciales Cuadro Comparativo 1958-2000|publisher=[[National Electoral Council (Venezuela)|CNE]]}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=August 2022}}