Overshadowed by allegations of corruption against a number of DPP officials and low satisfaction with his government, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) made relentless efforts during the campaign to shift the focus onto the referendum on recovering KMT stolen assets as well as national identity.
"It turns out that the effectiveness of the DPP strategy was very limited, as those issues were not fresh enough to generate interest with voters, especially when a large percentage of them have had enough of political rhetoric and confrontation," Chen Chao-jian said.
The offensive TV commercials launched by the pan-blue camp targeting the weak points in the DPP government, by comparison, effectively damaged the DPP's image and thus consolidated the pan-blue force and discouraged swing voters from voting, Chen Chao-jian said.
Yang Tai-shun said the effect of the KMT's commercials was multiplied by Chen Shui-bian, who reminded voters of a spate of negative stories surrounding the DPP whenever he made headlines with some of his extemporary remarks.
Looking at the election results from the perspective of encouraging supporters to vote, Yang Chun-chih (
The pan-blue camp's traditional mobilization strength wouldn't have proved effective if the KMT, the PFP and the NPSU had not agreed to a common ticket for each district prior to the elections, he said.
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