Lien, Soong scrambling on damage control over Lee Yuan-tseh

The campaigns of KMT presidential candidate Lien Chan (連戰) and independent candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) scrambled yesterday to downplay the "Lee Yuan-tseh" effect after the Academia Sinica chief threw his support behind the DPP's Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

Lee told reporters on Friday that he would be Chen's National Policy Advisor if Chen is elected.

As a highly respected scholar and Nobel laureate, Lee's open support is expected to sway a significant portion of undecided voters, who account for an estimated 25 to 30 percent of the electorate at this point.

Lee's support will boost Chen's camp by at least three to five percentage points, said Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday.

Both the KMT and Soong's camp were restrained in their responses to Lee's latest move, fearing that any negative remarks about Lee may backfire.

Soong's spokesperson Yen Jung-chang (顏榮昌) said it is difficult at this point to estimate Lee's impact on the campaign. But Lee had the freedom to make his own choice and the Soong camp would respect it as they would anyone else's, Soong's officials said.

In contrast, KMT legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中), said that Lee's impact on the election will be limited and that Lee's aura as an academic will fade away after he takes the plunge into politics.

Meanwhile, the Chinese-language media reported that Lien's campaign officials held emergency meetings to find ways to mend the damage done to their camp after Chen won the support of Lee and several other prominent figures.

One possible strategy in Lien's camp is to intercept voters shifting from Soong to Chen by playing up the Taiwan independence issue, the reports said. Lien's camp is expected to come up with slogans telling voters that voting for Soong will ensure a Chen victory and is an indirect vote for Taiwan independence.

Meanwhile, DPP campaign officials said Chen may announce another list this week of prominent figures who have promised to stump for Chen.

The next list will stride across party boundaries even further than Friday's list, the officials said.

Chen paid a high-profile visit to recently-resigned National Security Advisor Chen Pi-chao (陳必照) yesterday and is scheduled over the next few days to visit at least some of the other prominent figures who have already come out in support of Chen.