Dec. 1 elections: Infighting threatens DPP candidate's chances for victory

The Tainan County commissioner race would be an easy victory for the DPP were it not for the fact that influential incumbent Mark Chen (陳唐山), has long felt resentment for the party's candidate, Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智), observers say.

"Chen will have a decisive influence on the race's outcome," said the county's former deputy commissioner, Lin Wen-ding (林文定), the mastermind behind independent candidate Wei Yao-chien's (魏耀乾) campaign.

Lin said opinion polls show that around 40 percent of eligible voters in the county have not yet decided how they will vote "and 20 percent of them are likely to vote for the candidate whom the commissioner supports.

"Any DPP candidate but Su, who Chen will never support, could easily win the race since the party has ruled the county for eight years and President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) secured 53 percent of the county's votes in the last presidential election," Lin said.

Lin added he was not optimistic about the "presidential card" that he says Su is playing.

"Support for the president has not turned into a bonus for Su," he said.

The DPP regards the Tainan County contest as crucial to safeguarding the president's standing.

Su's campaign manager Yan Chwen-tzo (顏純左) said that county residents respect politicians who look after the county's interests or hail from the county itself. "As a native of the county, President Chen is without doubt the best possible campaigner for Su and will certainly bring in votes," Yan said.

Yan called for a united front by DPP supporters and urged Commissioner Chen to put aside his personal resentment of Su in order to fight the forces Yan said are trying to split the party.

Reiterating that Chen would never campaign for Su, Lin said that the best strategy for Su to employ would be to counter Chen's open support for the two other candidates -- Wei and the KMT's Wu Ching-chi (吳清基) -- by emphasizing the president's endorsement.

Yan said that if Mark Chen supports Wei, the independent candidate's former colleagues in the DPP could come out in Wei's support.

Frustrated with media speculation, Chen's legislative campaign manager Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) responded by saying that "as a DPP member, Chen will certainly support the DPP candidate."

Moreover, the president on Sunday succeeded in persuading Chen's top advisor in previous campaigns, Wu Nan-ho (吳南河), to run the rest of Su's campaign.

The infighting between Su and Chen is to seen to be to Wu's advantage and could cost Su the election.

"Wu and Su are the two major competitors in the race," said John Shen (沈榮峰), the executive director of the KMT's Tainan chapter. Shen said that the KMT would not ignore Wei's campaign although he is currently a distant third.

Shen added that unlike previous KMT candidates, Wu was capable of attracting voters from all factions, saying, that he "has never been involved in local politics" and had no enemies.

People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) and other opposition politicians have endorsed Wu's bid. Neither the PFP nor the New Party is fielding a candidate in the race.