During the legislative elections three years ago, the face of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) was a popular one among pan-blue supporters. It was easily spotted on the campaign billboards or brochures taken jointly with KMT legislative candidates. So was the face of People First Party (PFP) chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), whose photo, coupled with a legislative candidate, virtually guaranteed a boost to the candidate's electoral outlook.
That was then.
Today, while the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has four political heavyweights -- dubbed by media the "Four Kings" -- campaigning for DPP legislative hopefuls, the pan-blue camp has its own "Four Kings." They are Lien, Soong, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and KMT Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平).
Through the eyes of many pan-blue legislative hopefuls who are running a seat this year, Ma and Wang exceeded both Lien and Soong in terms of popularity as their favorite stumpers.
"A walk around the constituency here, it is not hard to see that the visibility of Lien is relatively less than [that during the previous legislative elections]," said Tainan City Councilor Wang Ding-yu (
This year's pan-blue candidates count more on their own interpersonal networks to win the support of voters, rather than expecting a boost to their campaign by getting their picture taken with Lien, Huang said, who comes from the same town as Lien.
The stubborn behavior and rhetoric displayed by both Lien and Soong in the wake of the March 20 presidential election contributed to a sense of disapproval among voters, especially those in southern and central Taiwan, political observers say.
"In comparison to Wang and Ma, the reputation and public appeal of both Lien and Soong had slipped, especially after the presidential election," said political commentator Yang Hsien-hung (楊憲宏).
Lien and Soong, who ran on the pan-blue joint presidential ticket in March, refused to concede defeat after they lost to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) by a margin of less than 30,000 votes. Immediately following the election result, Lien and Soong led pan-blue supporters to stage a weeks-long protest in front of the Presidential Office. They also allowed party members to lead pan-blue mobs who stormed the Central Election Commission building and broke into local district courts all over the country.
Lien on Nov. 5 vowed to appeal the ruling handed down by the Taiwan High Court, which dismissed the pan-blue camp's position that the March 20 presidential election was unfair and that its result should be nullified. Soong predictably followed suit and gave his full support to Lien's appeal vows. To many voters, mention of Lien and Soong now invokes the image of a couple of old men who are sore losers, political analysts say.
The recent rhetoric uttered by both Lien or Soong at public settings further demonstrated their position as hardliners which, according to political observers, did not help in gaining support from undecided voters.
During the KMT's weekly Central Standing Committee meeting on Nov. 3, Lien said Chen was a "cheating president" and that "President Chen Shui-bian is nothing."
He even went so far as to say that "anyone could kill President Chen."
While stumping for KMT legislative candidate Pan Wei-kang (潘維剛) in Taipei, Lien attacked the DPP campaign managers: Secretary-General Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄), Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), Premier Yu Shyi-kun and Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷).
"The so-called Four Kings are a host of demons dancing in riotous revelry," Lien said of them.
Soong, meanwhile, at one campaign rally, claimed that there would be a catastrophic cross-strait war next year should the pan-green camp win a majority in the legislative elections. He also predicted that "everyone in Taiwan would become a beggar" if this were to occur.
As past elections show, irrational, inflammatory rhetoric does not attract the so-called "middle voters," and tends to drive them away, Wang Ding-yu said.
Wang's observation meshed with remarks made by the editor-in-chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine, Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒).
"Lien and Soong's appeal is diminishing by the day, and they are now only able to rely on votes from pan-blue loyalists," Chin said.
In comparison with Lien and Soong's belligerent demeanor, both Wang and Ma had chosen to give mild responses after the Taiwan High Court handed down the Nov. 4 election lawsuit ruling.
A glance of the number of pan-blue legislative campaign events which Wang and Ma have been invited to and are slated to attend has revealed their newfound popularity.
According to pan-blue campaign staff, Ma, who doubles as one of the KMT's vice chairman, has thus far been invited to appear at more than 140 rallies and campaign events nationwide. Wang, meanwhile, has been invited to take the stage at more than 130 campaign events to stump for pan-blue legislative candidates.
Ma is widely regarded by many in the pan-blue camp as the person most likely to represent the KMT in the 2008 presidential election. His popularity among pan-blue supporters is notable. For example, when he was recently invited to attend a small seminar held by KMT legislator Hsu Chung-hsiung (徐中雄) -- who is running for re-election in Taichung County -- Ma was mobbed by supporters who fought each other to shake his hand and get an autograph or photograph. The reason legislative candidates like to have Ma show up at their campaign events is obvious, Yang said.
Wang, on the other hand, is known for his smooth and approachable persona which he employed to his advantage to build support among grassroots supporters. He is ranked second place on the KMT's list of legislators-at-large. Wang also participates in canvassing for pan-blue support.
He was so busy attending candidates' campaign events that he even rented a helicopter to transport him all over the nation so he could attend more events.
Until the official campaign period comes to a close at 10pm on Friday, Dec. 10, the presence of these four pan-blue pillars, in their capacity as campaign stumpers, will continue to capture the media limelight and outshine those who should have the most appeal -- the candidates themselves.
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