Chile Forum

The broadcasts may be clean but the campaigning is funny. lots of new Pinera posters and rallies here. Full size cardboard cutoff photos of Pinera with a Chilean flag on the grassy part in the middle of the street-a whole bunch of them. My neighbors who haves a picture of Pinochet in their dining room have a Pinera star on their door. If no one has seen them, they look something like a dressing room start for an actor with the name Pinera in the middle. He is campaigning hard this time. And the third time is the charm, right?

This looked interesting for english speakers that have any interest in the debate tonight:

English speakers interested in an up-close look at the two presidential candidates are invited to the Santiago Times website this evening at 9:45 pm to read our blogcast featuring some of Chile’s best known (English-speaking) political commentators. (ST, Jan. 8, 2010) The debate begins at 10 pm.

http://www.santiagotimes.cl/index.php?o ... &Itemid=27

Yea, Pinera and the rest of the guys running for election from the region did a bike ride through Temuco last week on the new bike paths (really is one of the better things they have done around here).

Yea, the debates can be watched live online at any of the Chilean TV station websites that stream their broadcast, as the debates are joint effort by all the TV media channels.

I just watched the final debate. It was painful. Not nearly as good as the last one. Not even the candidates seemed to be taking it all that seriously, and looked like they both would rather be somewhere else. They spent most of it just talking over eachother, and the reporters asking the questions grandstanding by talking over both of them.

O.k., here we go. Election Day part II. Polls are opening around the country.

My wife is getting up to go vote early this time to try and avoid the late Sunday afternoon lines.

First voting is starting.

So far Pinera looks to be doing it. Mens tables and obviously Los condes type richer areas are strongly pinera, but even in the very left leaning tables where ONM did good on the last round Pinera is picking up a lot of defectors from the left. The quick unscientific sampling so far say he grabbed about 23% of the left so far. Still early though.

I believe Pinera only needs to grab about 5% from the left to be in the safe zone. So far he looks like he is doing it.

We just watched the first table come in Temuco. Pinera grabbed about 25% from the left, in a traditionally strong right region. It is looking like it is shaping up to be an "anyone but Frei" vote, not a right vs. left vote.

How long before there are true results? And I'm seeing a recount(i think) somewhere? Anybody know?

http://todo13.canal13.cl/en_vivo.htm?q=1

University catolica, department of sociology is projecting the following based on the votes counted so far:

52% Pinera
48% Frei

Local station here in the most conservative terms based on the results coming in from around the country saying it looks like Piñera 50.9ish to 49.1ish.

First official call was just made. With about 60% of the votes counted, 51.8% for Pinera to 48.4% for Frei.

The minister of the interior just said that the trend is not reversable at this point, and he had already called to congratulate Pinera.

At this point, Pinera is the new president of Chile barring any super big errors.