In all previous election campaigns, all DPP candidates waved their party flags furiously during campaign rallies, while KMT candidates tended not to bother with campaign rallies, relying on the powerful KMT electoral machine instead, as they did not feel that they would be able to sway undecided voters by generating popular approval for the party.
Today, KMT candidates have restored confidence in their party and are trying to compete with the DPP in voter mobilization by generating popular approval.
The foremost contributors in the KMT's transformation into the "new KMT" were the Greater China ideologists. The KMT used to be considered an immigrant government, a fact denounced by the DPP in the light of Taiwanese consciousness. No matter how hard it tried, the KMT could not match the DPP in localization. Since the death of the two strongmen of the Chiang dynasty, the old KMT power continued to resist the equal participation of all citizens in politics. For this reason, they have opposed whatever President Lee Teng-hui (
Take the recent earthquake as an example. Old school KMT officials bitterly criticized President Lee Teng-hui and Vice President Lien Chan (
Have these people forgotten how much aid Taiwan gave China in the past and how China has repaid them? Have they also forgotten that the relationship across the Taiwan Strait had deteriorated because China wanted to attack Taiwan, not because Taiwan wanted to attack China? It is absurd to criticize the victim rather than the invader, but in the eyes of the old KMT, both the KMT and the Communist Party are Chinese, and they are both, in a sense, opposed to the new KMT factions, who they consider as outsiders. The position of Greater China ideologists has forced the new KMT to become a localized rather than an immigrant-oriented political party set up in opposition to the old KMT.
In the past, the DPP attacked the KMT's dictatorship and corruption so that more ideologically-oriented Taiwanese rejected the KMT. But now the authoritarian political system has gone, and as to corruption, the DPP's declamation has lost its focus because it has become difficult to distinguish the campaigns and administration styles of the two parties. There are only personal differences, no party differences. In the past, the KMT controlled the majority of votes, so the DPP, which was eager to take over power, used the same strategies as the KMT to win votes over from the KMT, which increased the similarities between the ruling and opposition parties.
Playing the "stability card" is an obvious example. In past election campaigns, many DPP candidates won the election by criticizing the candidates of the KMT. Today, the DPP candidates can no longer afford just to rely on this strategy, and must also fall back on their personal connections and charisma as well. The KMT has given up its dictatorship; but its corruption is still a question. Changes in the DPP itself have increased the similarities between the two parties, raising public approval for the KMT in the process. Therefore, the DPP is also a contributor to the KMT's transformation.
In the past, the KMT's control over a majority of votes was due to the party machine, not voter approval. Although the KMT has lost some votes to the DPP during recent elections, it has actually won more approval from voters. It was the Greater China ideologists and the DPP that fostered the transformation of the KMT.
Chen Mao-hsiung is a professor at National Sun Yat-Sen University.
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