THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

That's a trick question because most of the civilized world is more progressive than the US. If you don't believe me, read this WaPo story on the woman most likely to win election to the presidency of Chile.

"I'm agnostic. . . . I believe in the state," Bachelet told several groups of evangelical ministers last week. "I believe the state has an important role in guaranteeing the diversity of men and women in Chile -- their different spiritualities, philosophies and ways of life."

Bachelet, 54, a socialist running in national elections Sunday, has a strong chance of becoming Chile's first female head of state -- and thus the first woman in South America to be elected to the top national office without replacing a deceased or disabled husband.

As a single mother, Bachelet is a symbol of change in a country so culturally conservative that it legalized divorce only last year. As both the child of a military family and a victim of prison and torture under the former military dictatorship, she is also a symbol of healing in a country long divided by ideology, class and competing versions of a tumultuous recent history....

.....Although a substantial number of Chileans remain opposed to divorce, most voters don't seem bothered by the fact that Bachelet readily acknowledges she split up with her husband and bore two children while unmarried. Although the Catholic Church has long been the country's dominant cultural institution, her avowed lack of interest in religion has not hurt her, either. And even though just 36 percent of Chilean women hold jobs -- the lowest percentage in Latin America -- Bachelet has won support with her promise to choose women for at least half of her cabinet posts.

"My candidacy represents a society that is more progressive and modern, that recognizes both men and women do have talents," said Bachelet, who most recently served as defense minister for President Ricardo Lagos. "People want politicians who are more concerned about citizens, who do things more ethically, and in that sense there is an expectation that women could be different in their way of doing politics."

Imagine that! People not wanting to be fucked over and kicked aside. Must be a bunch of liberul pinko commies.

UPDATE:She has the most votes, but not a majority.

Socialist Party candidate Michelle Bachelet led Chile's presidential election by more than 1 million votes Sunday but did not capture the majority needed to avoid a runoff next month, according to nearly complete returns.

With 96 percent of the ballots counted, Bachelet, a political prisoner during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and later a defense minister under a democratic government, received about 46 percent of the vote. She was trailed by two conservatives, Sebastian Pinera, one of Chile's wealthiest men who took about 25 percent, and Joaquin Lavin, a former mayor of Santiago, who had about 23 percent.