Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) is inconspicuous as a presidential candidate, especially compared with election campaigns in other democracies where, six months prior to polling, the ruling party candidate is always shining as brightly as possible and the sitting president stays out of the limelight.
In Taiwan, strangely, the reverse is true -- a president who must step down is doing all he can to continue shining so brightly that the party's candidate can't be seen. It makes no sense for a lame duck president to set policy that will overlap into the next president's term. I would like to see as much as possible of Hsieh, learn what his views are as an individual and as a leader. The same goes for his running mate, Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), for that matter.
I know Hsieh was admired for his mayoral leadership in Kaohsiung and he wisely avoided questionable circumstances that has led to scandal after scandal for other politicians. And now, an estimated (by Hsieh's own reckoning) 6,000-plus government officials could be indicted over abuse of special funds. Only Hsieh and Su have had the foresight and precision to have left behind records that are 100 percent clean of any false data, which is absolutely amazing. With such an exactness at being an icon of clean government -- why on earth does the Democratic Progressive Party hide him?
Trace Gomez
Sansia, Taipei County
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