Four years ago, when Chen Shui-bian (
Today, the DPP, the current ruling party, is going all out to fight the KMT's incumbent, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who is seeking re-election.
From the president, the vice president and premier, to all party legislators and party cadres, everyone is coming out and taking turns attacking Ma over issues such as national identity, building a domed stadium, relocating Sungshan Airport, and whether Ma plans to run for president in 2004.
The result is that Ma's support ratings remain high in public opinion polls. The attackers have even unwittingly helped to raise Ma's campaign momentum, turning the mayoral race into almost a presidential race or a showdown between Chen and Ma.
The prospects of Lee Ying-yuan (李應元), the DPP's mayoral candidate, appear increasingly less promising.
According to media reports, the DPP seems to have realized the situation and the need to change its strategies quickly. In the next two weeks, the party plans to have Chen take a back seat and bring the focus of the lection back to city administration issues.
When it comes to Ma's political weak points, a mayoral election and a presidential election call for attacks on different levels.
In a mayoral race, his character, ability and performance should be the focus. Only in a presidential race should his political loyalty be questioned.
Today, the DPP is using presidential campaign methods to tackle Ma in a mayoral election. This turns him into a powerful enemy of Chen. When that happens, how will the lesser known Lee be expected to fight against Ma? The campaign will look like a showdown between "Mayor Lee" and "President Ma."
The DPP should readjust its focus and return to a comparison of Lee's and Ma's characters, abilities, achievements and vision in respect to the city's development.
Only when the DPP does so will it have any chance of salvaging Lee's opinion-poll ratings and his campaign momentum, neither of which seem to have seen any improvement.
Chen Sung-shan is a member of the Civil Service Protection and Training Commission at the Examination Yuan.
Translated by Francis Huang
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