Brazil's presidential candidates fight for poor and lower middle class votes
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In this Oct. 16, 2014 photo, residents in their home watch a live presidential debate on TV between candidates Aecio Neves, left, and Brazil's current President Dilma Rousseff in the Dona Marta slum of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, ahead of a presidential election run-off on Sunday, Oct. 26. The tightest and most unpredictable presidential election since Brazils return to democracy three decades ago is now in the hands of lower middle class voters who remain torn about which candidate theyll back just days before the ballot. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this Oct. 20, 2014 photo, Ivani Delfino poses for a photo in his home on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Delfino, who makes a living selling recycled trash and doing small construction jobs, said he'll vote for President Dilma Rousseff in the upcoming presidential run-off election on Oct. 26. While the circumstances of the poor remain dire, the lowest echelons of Brazils social pyramid have seen the net greatest improvement in their lives over the past decade during three successive Workers Party governments. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this Oct. 15, 2014 photo, cable cars carrying commuters travels over shanty homes in the Alemao slum complex in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Polls have shown the poor overwhelmingly support President Dilma Rousseff, who is running for reelection, while the rich are massively behind opposition candidate Aecio Neves ahead of the Oct. 26 presidential run-off election. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this Oct. 19, 2014 photo, Aecio Neves, Brazilian Social Democracy Party presidential candidate, greets supporters while campaigning at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Neves wins over the lower middle class when he hammers at incumbent Dilma Rousseff of the Workers Party for creating rising prices, a stagnant economy, woeful infrastructure and accusations of widespread corruption. With just one debate left and only a few more days to air campaign ads, Brazils election is going down to the wire. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this Oct. 16, 2014 photo, the Sugar Loaf Mountain, top right, and homes are seen from the top of the Dona Marta slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, ahead of a presidential election run-off on Sunday, Oct. 26. Crucial to President Dilma Rousseffs re-election is whether lower middle class voters are convinced that only she and the Workers Party can secure gains. They are the class of voter most sensitive to economic shifts _ theyre just well off enough to not take part in government cash-transfer programs, but not rich enough to have cushions against economic shocks. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this Oct. 20, 2014 photo, a youth tries to get a glimpse of Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff who's running for reelection with the Workers Party at a rally for Rousseff in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The country's lower middle class have escaped the poverty their parents lived in, and theyve gained access to credit to buy flat-screen TVs and smartphones. But theyve often not moved from slums and dont make enough money to avoid using the countrys notoriously bad public services. They take crowded buses not taxis, suffer long waits and poor care in public hospitals, and their children study in bad public schools. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
In this Oct. 20, 2014 photo, Brazil's President and Workers Party candidate Dilma Rousseff poses for a photo with a supporter during a rally for her re-election campaign in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The tightest and most unpredictable presidential election since Brazils return to democracy three decades ago is now in the hands of lower middle class voters who represent 35 percent of the electorate and remain torn about which candidate theyll back just days before the ballot. Which camp such voters ultimately fall in has wavered over the final days of the campaign. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
In this Oct. 20, 2014 photo, Silmara Felizardo makes coffee inside her home in a shantytown on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Felizardo, who worked temporarily at this year's World Cup tournament and is currently taking cooking classes in hopes of getting work in a restaurant, said she'll vote for President Dilma Rousseff in Sunday's presidential run-off election. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this Oct. 20, 2014 photo, Isnaria Souza sits with dogs near her home in a shantytown on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Souza, 38, said she's still undecided between the two candidates running in Sunday's presidential run-off election. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this Oct. 15, 2014 photo, a boy eats bread as he stands on a makeshift bridge that crosses a polluted water channel in the McLaren area of the Mare slum complex in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. While Sundays race is too close to call, no one doubts the poor will come out for President Dilma Rousseff. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this Oct. 15, 2014 photo, a little girl smiles to the camera as she plays in the McLaren area of the Mare slum complex in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. While the circumstances of the poor remain dire, the lowest echelons of Brazils social pyramid have seen the net greatest improvement in their lives over the past decade during three successive Workers Party governments. Brazil will hold a presidential run-off election on Sunday, Oct. 26. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this Oct. 20, 2014 photo, a pig walks among the trash scattered in a street on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Brazil's poorest will make their voice heard on Sunday, Oct. 26 in the second-round vote of a presidential election. They're expected to resoundingly support incumbent Dilma Rousseff and her Workers Party, thanks to a host of social programs that have helped lift tens of millions out of hand-to-mouth survival, providing them with tiny but steady sources of income. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this Oct. 20, 2014 photo, a boy plays on a car tire next to a polluted water channel in the McLaren area of the Mare slum complex in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. While the circumstances of the poor remain dire, the lowest echelons of Brazils social pyramid have seen the net greatest improvement in their lives over the past decade during three successive Workers Party governments. Brazil will hold a presidential run-off election on Sunday, Oct. 26. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this Oct. 16, 2014 photo, Marcio Macedo finishes building the entrance to his home at the top of the Dona Marta slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Macedo, 47, said he'll vote for President Rousseff Dilma in Sunday's presidential run-off election, because he believes she has good projects. Even though she wasnt able to do all of her projects the past four years, shell get to them now," he said. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this Oct. 20, 2014 photo, three-year-old Carlos stands in the doorway of his shack home on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Carlos' mother wrote on their wall in Portuguese : "If God changed my life, he'll also change my history Two happy lives." Brazil will hold a presidential run-off election on Sunday, Oct. 26. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this Oct. 21, 2014 photo, the upscale Ipanema neighborhood, left, stands along the coast, seen from the Cantagalo slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Polls have shown the poor overwhelmingly support President Dilma Rousseff, who is running for reelection, while the rich are massively behind opposition candidate Aecio Neves ahead of the Oct. 26 presidential run-off election. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this Oct. 20, 2014 photo, an election campaign sign hangs next to a shack home in a shantytown on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Brazil's poorest will make their voice heard on Sunday, Oct. 26 in the second-round vote of a presidential election. They're expected to resoundingly support incumbent Dilma Rousseff and her Workers Party, thanks to a host of social programs that have helped lift tens of millions out of hand-to-mouth survival, providing them with tiny but steady sources of income. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this Oct. 20, 2014 photo, a resident holds a dog as she stands near shack homes and a polluted water channel in the McLaren area of the Mare slum complex in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. While Sundays race is too close to call, no one doubts the poor will come out for President Dilma Rousseff. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this Oct. 20, 2014 photo, Maria Eduarda, 7, holds her two-year-old sister Kauania as another sister Joyce, 4, plays outside their home while their mother steps away briefly and a neighbor looks after them in a shantytown on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. While the circumstances of the poor remain dire, the lowest echelons of Brazils social pyramid have seen the net greatest improvement in their lives over the past decade during three successive Workers Party governments. Brazil will hold a presidential run-off election on Sunday, Oct. 26. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this Oct. 16, 2014 photo, a woman sits at the entrance of her home in the Dona Marta slum which overlooks the upper middle-class area of Botafogo in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, ahead of a presidential election run-off on Sunday, Oct. 26. Since June, Brazil entered a technical recession and inflation has remained above the governments own target, despite attempts to lower it by imposing price controls on gasoline and electricity. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this Oct. 15, 2014 photo, children share bread and soda in the McLaren area of the Mare slum complex in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. While the circumstances of the poor remain dire, the lowest echelons of Brazils social pyramid have seen the net greatest improvement in their lives over the past decade during three successive Workers Party governments. Brazil will hold a presidential run-off election on Sunday, Oct. 26. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this Oct. 20, 2014 photo, Leandra Lopes sleeps inside her home in the McLaren area of the Mare slum complex in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Lopes, 12, lives with her mother and four siblings in their one room makeshift home. Brazil's poorest will make their voice heard on Sunday, Oct. 26 in the second-round vote of a presidential election. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this Oct. 20, 2014 photo, Silmara Felizardo smiles from the kitchen of her home, made of scrap pieces in a shantytown on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Felizardo, who worked temporarily at this year's World Cup tournament and is currently taking cooking classes in hopes of getting work in a restaurant, said she'll vote for President Dilma Rousseff in Sundya's presidential run-off election. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)