The leader in Chile's presidential race is a socialist, atheist, single mom, torture victim -- hardly the profile for success in a conservative, Catholic South American country.
Yet Michelle Bachelet is far ahead of the candidates of a split right-wing opposition going into today's presidential election.
Although her poll figures have slipped in the past few days and she may fail to get the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff vote, Chileans have found her unconventional resume, which blends recent history with her own painful story, immensely appealing.
Bachelet, 54, is the candidate for the center-left Concertacion, the coalition of leftist and centrist parties that has governed Chile for 16 years, since democracy returned.
"I am just a Chilean woman -- no more and no less than millions of other Chileans," Bachelet is fond of saying.
"I work, I take care of my home and I drop my daughter off at school. But I'm also a Chilean that feels a calling to fight for justice and for public service," she said.
According to people who work with her, Bachelet is an indefatigable worker who sleeps little but enjoys parties and dancing. She is spontaneous, a straight-talker, affable and smiles easily, but at times can be stern.
Bachelet is separated from her husband -- divorce is hard to come by in this conservative Roman Catholic country -- and the mother of three children from two different fathers.
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