>>Sharing the burden with the poor:
>>
>>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4652940.stm
>
>Very laudible! And it's not like he was on a fortune to start with. Good for him.

From the previous elections (2002), he gave an impression of integrity, and I think it is this which made many people prefer him over other parties, generally perceived as corrupt:

(1) MAS, like all other parties, received money from the state treasury, to finance the campaign. I assume this is to partly offset the advantage of the stronger parties. However, it was the first time in Bolivia's history that part (about 50%) of this money was returned to the treasury - they said they didn't use all of it.

(2) Evo had not won an absolute majority (in 2002), and refused to participate in the negotiations ("cuoteo") amongst the political parties, in Congress, which he considered corrupt. If nobody wins an absolute majority, Congress is to vote among the two candidates who received the highest number of votes. Negotiations go along the lines of "vote for me as president, and your party gets this and that ministry". Evo said the members of Congress should vote for him because of his merits, not because of these negotiations - and, of course, lost the election.

Just to give a balanced picture, it should be noted that there are also some other aspects, which people dislike about him and his party.

Hardly anyone within Bolivia will object to his background as cocalero - cocaine is illegal in Bolivia, but growing the leaves of Erytroxylum Coca leaves is not. The Sacred Leaf has been part of Bolivia's culture for at least a thousand years.

What some people do dislike about Evo and his party is his past involvement in protests, often blocking important highways.

I have heard some claims that it would be preferable for him to be president than to continue blocking the highways, but I believe the reason many people voted for him is, rather, his perceived honesty.