DPP must find ways to win back youth vote

`One does not necessarily win over young voters by simply being young.'

In the final moments of the Yunlin County commissioner by-election four years ago, the DPP focused its campaign on getting local people residing in other cities and counties to come home and vote.

At the time, it was believed that most of the people who had left Yunlin were young people who had strong feelings about the stagnated development and "black gold" corruption in their hometown. Their willingness to come back and vote, it was believed, would provide the only chance to change Yunlin's voter structure, which was centered around local factions.

Lin Chung-li (林中禮), the DPP's candidate in the race, had no advantage in terms of age. But the DPP believed that young people would vote for Lin -- if they made the return trip. Such confidence was built on the party's political image, values and discourse. The DPP -- and even its opponents -- believed that vision and reform indeed had a decisive influence on the voting preferences of young people.

In contrast to the Yunlin by-election, the DPP nominated You Ying-lung (游盈隆), was a candidate who enjoyed the advantage of being relatively young, in the just-concluded Hualien race. He also came up with the campaign slogan of "a new generation taking over."

However, numerous public opinion polls and the by-election results showed that You's relative youth wasn't of much help in attracting young voters.

Even Hualien's youth had reservations about him, not to mention the locals in other areas and coming home to vote. Post-election analyses even showed that some young people returned home to vote for the elderly blue-camp candidate Hsieh Shen-shan (謝深山).

If, for the DPP, the Hualien by-election results are a warning of things to come, then President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who relied on young voters to get elected, must pay attention. Why is it that the "generational takeover" propaganda can no longer win the hearts of young people? Why is the DPP no longer able to move young people?

The DPP can say that the defeat was not a surprise, because Hualien's voter structure has always been dominated by blue-camp supporters. But how would the DPP explain why it had difficulty persuading young voters to support You?

The DPP will no doubt lose the support of young voters if it loses its reformist political image and its values and vision. The Hualien by-election warns us that one does not necessarily win over young voters by simply being young.

Chen pay attention to this point. If he is still immersed in the superstition about age, believing that "generation" is the biggest precipice preventing the flow of votes, and thereby underestimates the Lien-Soong ticket's ability to attract young voters, then he may have to taste the pain of defeat.

Simply up Web sites, publishing online magazines and running campaign camps will not do wonders in attracting young voters. Remaking the party's vision, demonstrating the ability to implement it, proposing core values as a platform for continued governance are the only ways for the DPP to build "brand loyalty."

Chiu Li-li is a Tainan City Councilor.

Translated by Francis Huang