While elections the world over include their share of political mudslinging, Brazil's version of the time-honored tradition of trouncing one's opponent is making for a particularly compelling race, considered by many analysts to be the most competitive presidential election in the country's history.

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The series of Internet and on-air swipes by Social Democratic candidate Jose Serra and his Popular Socialist Party counterpart, Ciro Gomes, are dominating Brazilian newspaper headlines as the two men duke it out for a place in the second round of elections.

The candidates are virtually tied for second place, with both polling around 20 percent of the prospective vote.

Brazilian presidential elections are scheduled for Oct. 6. If no candidate wins a majority of the vote (more than 50 percent), a runoff on Oct. 27 between the top two contenders will determine the nation's next leader.

Poll-leading Workers' Party candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is considered a lock for the second round, as recent surveys give him 36 percent of voters' support. The last-place candidate, former Rio de Janeiro Governor Anthony Garotinho, is polling at 9 percent, with little hope of catching either Gomes or Serra.

Two weeks ago, it appeared Serra was down for the count, polling around 14 percent, while Gomes was riding high with 27 percent.

A former health minister and President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's hand-picked successor, Serra's poor showing caused some rumbling among Social Democratic supporters who threatened to back another candidate if his numbers did not improve.

Then, after launching a barrage of Internet and on-air attacks against his archrival, Serra rebounded into contention, while Gomes' numbers dropped.

The disdain the men have for one another is evident in the postings on their sites and in televised debates, where the two often sling insults with what at times resembles reckless abandon.

In July, Gomes was the first to kick the war of words into high gear by alleging that Serra was using "Nazi tactics" of disinformation to undermine his campaign.

Serra's site soon responded with an audio file containing a catchy tune with the refrain: "Voce mente demais, Gomes (You lie too much, Gomes)."

More recently, following this week's nationally televised debate, both candidates' sites featured retaliatory attacks for banter they engaged in the previous evening.

"Candidate Jose Serra showed viewers in a televised debate, face to face, who is the true Ciro Gomes ... and left him speechless," read the Serra site the following day.

"Serra made it clear that he doesn't make attacks, he just reproduces the compromising declarations that Ciro repeatedly makes."

One such Serra "reproduction" of a Gomes remark landed him in hot water with Brazil's Supreme Electoral Court and cost him several minutes of the free television time that is federally mandated for all candidates.

In one of his commercials, Serra used footage of Gomes calling someone a "donkey" during a campaign stop in the Brazilian state of Bahia. The clip prompted a stern warning from Judge Caputo Bastos, who said that from now on "the court will be rigorous in cracking down on excesses by candidates."

Brazilian law states that each candidate is given an allotment of time relative to the size of his party's representation in Congress. The law does not, however, cover the use of slander on the Internet.

Gomes' site shot back at his nemesis following the debate, alleging that Serra is "used to having the federal government and advertising money in his favor to pressure the media and make it an ally of his campaign," referring to his backing by President Cardoso and Brazil's ruling party.