Brazil's Alckmin -- bland "vegetable" finds flavor

Opposition candidate Geraldo Alckmin has shrugged off his image as a bland, uninspiring technocrat and emerged as a crusader for clean politics with the surprise first-round result of Brazil's presidential election.

A few weeks ago, polls showed Alckmin was destined for a resounding defeat at the hands of the charismatic man-of-the-people, President Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva. But his barrage of denunciations against the sleaze and corruption surrounding the ruling Workers' Party finally hit the mark.

In Sunday's election, Lula failed to secure the more than 50 percent of votes needed for outright victory and the two men will now go mano-a-mano in a second round on Oct. 29.

That has changed with Sunday's showing, Sao Paulo-based political consultant John Fitzpatrick said. "He can now claim to be a heavyweight with a national reputation," Fitzpatrick said.