The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is to present a new main campaign message for the Nov. 24 nine-in-one elections in hopes of energizing its base, a DPP official said yesterday.
“Reform for the next generation” was the campaign message the party had rolled out in July.
However, due to a perceived lack of enthusiasm, the DPP leadership, in a bid to energize the party base, is planning to present “no backtrack from reforms” and “protect Taiwan together” as the new campaign slogans, a senior party official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Photo: Su Fang-ho, Taipei Times
The new campaign message would resonate with President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) address on Double Ten National Day, they said.
The DPP has lost ground in opinion polls, with margins narrowing even in Kaohsiung, which has for a long time reliably voted for the DPP, the official said.
In light of such developments, energizing and motivating the base tops the agenda for DPP strategists, who are increasingly looking to attack as a way to wrest control of the debate from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the official added.
The DPP legislative caucus has held a series of news conferences to slam the KMT over its alleged forgery of signatures on referendum petitions.
Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊) has also maintained high visibility on the campaign trail with hard-pressed DPP candidates, stumping for hopefuls in Miaoli County and helping to coordinate the DPP’s strategy in Yilan County.
The DPP Youth Organization yesterday launched a campaign team of young political appointees who are to act as “campaign surrogates” for DPP candidates.
The DPP governs 13 counties and cities, and mayoral elections in the special municipalities of Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung are deemed safe, DPP Secretary-General Hung Yao-fu (洪耀福) said yesterday.
However, the party faces a tough race for the commissionership in Yilan County, while Changhua County and Chiayi City are toss-ups, he said.
The DPP aims to wrest New Taipei City from the KMT and it also has high hopes for Taitung County, he added.
Asked whether the campaign surrogates could compromise the political neutrality of government administration, Hung said that all officials assisting campaigns have taken leaves of absence.
Additional reporting by Su Fang-ho
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