IF YOU had asked a pundit three months ago to predict the first round of Brazil’s presidential election on October 5th, the response would more or less have resembled what has turned into the polling-day reality. With all 115m ballots counted (after just a few hours, thanks to a remarkably efficient electronic-voting system) Dilma Rousseff emerged on top with 42% of the vote. Trailing eight points behind the incumbent was Aécio Neves of the main centre-right opposition Party of Brazilian Social Democracy (PSDB). The candidate of the centrist Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) finished a respectable third, with 21%. As expected back then, Ms Rousseff and Mr Neves will now battle it out in a competitive run-off on October 26th.
But a rollercoaster, too, begins and ends in the same place. And from the start of campaigning on July 6th till today, Brazilians were taken for a wild ride.
As recently as two days ago Mr Neves was polling third. His status as the president’s putative challenger had been usurped by Marina Silva (pictured above), a popular former environment minister vaulted atop the PSB ticket—and then to stratospheric heights in...Continue reading
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