Chile's Bachelet leads president race after debate

[struggle4progress]

By Fiona Ortiz

SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) - Despite a subdued performance in a major televised debate, Socialist Michelle Bachelet stayed well ahead in the presidential race, polls and analysts said.

Bachelet, a former health minister and defense minister, is polling at about 47 percent ahead of December 11 elections. If she wins, Bachelet would be Chile's first woman president and the fourth consecutive leader from the center-left coalition that has run Chile since Augusto Pinochet's 17-year dictatorship ended in 1990.
<snip>

If Bachelet, of Chile's ruling center-left coalition, does not win more than 50 percent of the vote in December she goes to a runoff, most likely with opposition conservative Joaquin Lavin, who has been slipping in polls recently, or another right-wing candidate, businessman Sebastian Pinera. <snip>

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-10-20T173651Z_01_BAU063383_RTRUKOC_0_US-CHILE-DEBATE.xml&archived=False

[arcos]

1. I saw the last few minutes of it in CNN En Español...

And I thought she did great... Lavin is a religious nut, and Piñera tries to appear moderate.