Okay, it could be Tozé Seguro.

It was 20 years ago in March. José Sócrates' first government had just been sworn in, and Freitas do Amaral, former president of the CDS party, was part of it. Out of spite, like a spiteful girlfriend, the party leadership decided to remove Freitas' photograph from the wall where former leaders were represented, boxed it up, and sent it to the PS headquarters. As if to say, "Enjoy that scoundrel!" There was a kind of Voldemortization of Freitas, who ceased to be appointed in Caldas. I can't find any record of it in the newspapers of the time, but it's possible that after that, the CDS went to the hairdresser to get highlights, joined a gym to lose weight, and went on a trip with friends to Mallorca to recover their self-esteem. In short, the usual record of relationships that end badly.

For two decades, this remained the most resentful treatment any party ever gave to one of its former leaders. Until now, the moment when the Socialist Party finally decided to give its support to António José Seguro in the most demeaning way possible. It wasn't really "giving," it was more like "throwing him to the ground and, when Seguro bent down to pick him up, stepping on his toes." At first glance, it seemed like a normal attitude, until we realized that the phrase "PS supports Tozé Seguro" had been corrected and now reads "PS – the support for Tozé Seguro."

The Socialist Party (PS) wasn't as undignified as the CDS-PP. It was worse. They kept Seguro's portrait in Largo do Rato, but placed a box of felt-tip pens next to it for party members to draw mustaches and horns on it. Someone even drew a target on his head, and now people are playing darts with Seguro's face on it.

All because, to this day, the socialists haven't forgiven Seguro for believing, in 2012, that with the country under intervention and lacking full sovereignty due to the troika that his party had called in after Portugal went bankrupt during the Sócrates government, it was his duty not to contribute to the disaster. For the socialists, being decent is a betrayal worse than Freitas's.

Meanwhile, António José Seguro was ousted from the leadership and retired to Penamacor, where he spent the last few years tending to the vineyards. He didn't overshadow his successor, he didn't come saying "I told you so!" when Sócrates was arrested, he was a decent guy. And the socialists take offense at that. I don't know if the wine Seguro makes is good, but I'm sure that what his fellow PS party members ended up drinking is swill. As can be seen by the repugnance with which they view supporting Seguro, they're drinking very bad wine.

The terrible treatment they're giving Seguro is only comparable to the tantrum my son is going to throw this Christmas. Since before summer he's been writing his letter to Santa, including all the toys he sees in TV commercials, the ones his friends talk about at school, and several that – I'm sure – he's invented himself. It's a Toys R Us catalog. I'm going to have to spend a fortune on stamps. In the end, to his great disappointment, he'll only receive the present I bought in a June sale. Socialist activists feel the same frustration. For a year, they dreamed of Mário Centeno, António Vitorino, Sampaio da Nóvoa, Santos Silva, António Costa, and Ana Gomes. In the end, they have to settle for Tozé Seguro.

It's like going to a Michelin-starred restaurant, only to find that none of the dishes on the menu are available and you end up eating leftovers. António José Seguro may become President of the Republic, but for the Socialist Party he will always be the Remnant of the Republic. What's left over.

When he challenged Costa for the party leadership, Seguro vigorously criticized the "PS of vested interests." Who would have thought he would end up being ostracized by the "PS of lack of interest"? Apparently, they have no interest whatsoever in António José Seguro.

Forty years after the most epic Socialist victory in presidential elections, the PS candidate repeats the slogan. After "Soares is cool!", we'll have "It's safe, cool". Instead of the noun, the verb to fix. As if to say: "Memorize it well, if necessary stick a post-it note on the fridge saying 'Don't forget to vote Seguro'."