Few mainstream commentators are optimistic about Brazil’s coming presidential election. In the run-up to the first round on Oct. 7, countless columnists and policymakers have expressed a mixture of resignation and despair at the near-certain prospect of a run-off between the far-right former army captain Jair Bolsonaro and the former Workers’ Party (PT) mayor of São Paulo, Fernando Haddad.  

Neither has given Brazilians much to be hopeful for, or offered a...

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