For the first time, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is pinning its election hopes in the tightly fought Taipei and Sinbei races on Internet users, young voters and a grassroots movement — risky tactics given that these groups have often shied away from voting green in the past.
Led by campaign officials mostly in their early 30s, DPP candidates in the two municipalities have reached out using the Internet, music festivals and living room meetings. Senior party officials say the move reflects a desire from voters to see the election campaign turn into something new and more engaging.
“We understand that voters are fed up with partisan politics, which is actually very harmful for society,” DPP Secretary-General Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) said. “We are trying to do something different this time around ... but for us, it’s a test as much as it is for the public.”
Photo: CNA
Encouraged by DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), also the party’s Sinbei City mayoral candidate, DPP staffers have been quick to embrace new technologies in election campaigns nationwide, including the creation of interactive Web 2.0 sites, cutting-edge television commercials and a futuristic office for Taipei mayoral candidate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌).
The office in Taipei City includes a huge motion-activated projection wall screen that comes alive with a sweep of the arm. The sweep brings into view hundreds of suggestions from Taipei City residents, a projection that staffers say helps Su better connect with the public.
And while traditional DPP election flags on road medians and on the sides of buildings are vastly outnumbered by those of their Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) opponents, a visit to popular Web sites such as Google, YouTube and Facebook reveals the extent of the DPP’s online presence, which features interactive streaming ads and commercials.
The cost-effective ideas, a key factor for the cash-strapped party, have driven up interest in both Su and Tsai’s Web sites, which include their election policies in multimedia formats.
Google Trends, a technology that keeps track of online search habits, reveals that since February, searches for Tsai have outpaced those for her competitor five to one. In the same period, searches for Su have also doubled those for Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌).
The online popularity of the two candidates was also confirmed by online information company Alexa, which tracks Web site views for iing.tw, Tsai’s campaign Web site. The company said views of her Web site also outnumbered those of her opponent’s five to one.
In addition, the two DPP candidates have devised election platforms that emphasize local ideas, rather than the national and ideological issues that have traditionally been associated with the DPP. Wu said that Tsai had insisted since the beginning of the DPP’s campaigns that the party become more, “considerate, reasonable and policy-based.”
“She’s not our average political leader,” Wu said. “If I said something like this, no one would believe that I was for real, but when Tsai says it, everyone simply accepts that this is the way it is going to be.”
To popularize these ideas, Tsai has been holding her share of town hall meetings, small gatherings that take place in rural townships, where campaign officials say she listens to residents’ concerns and shares with them her thoughts on what needs to be done. To date, she has held nearly 100 such meetings, while her campaign staffers say her opponent has only held three.
“It’s a fight between the old versus the new in Sinbei City,” Tsai campaign spokesperson Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said. “And so far, it appears to be working.”
Similarly, Su has also held dozens of “living room meetings,” a phrase that members of his campaign coined to describe his willingness to travel to the homes of voters to answer policy questions and share his ideas on governance. One uncommitted Internet user described the hour-long meetings as a “house party” on his blog and credited them with helping him understand the candidate.
“[I’m] happy to see election candidates aggressively promote their own ideals on governance and policies,” the Internet user, Lee Chuan-hsing (李全興), said on his blog. “I sincerely hope that [more] candidates can use the Internet to communicate and seek positive support instead of using ideological or negative attacks on their opponents.”
Both Su and Tsai have also emphasized the use of music and bands to attract the support of younger voters during election events. While Tsai’s evening rallies are usually preceded by small independent bands, Su has courted support at small-scale music events held in Taipei City parks. Attendance at the most recent event, in Zhongpo Park on Tuesday, outstripped expectations after an estimated 2,000 people arrived at the venue, which had only 500 seats.
“We could not believe it. We didn’t mobilize a single one of our supporters to attend the event, but in the end it was standing room only,” Su campaign spokesperson Andrew Wang (王閔生) said. “I guess it shows just how many young people want to see change in Taipei City.”
Tsai’s campaign officials say they have had to start turning away attendees at an evening speech after about 4,000 supporters showed up at an open-air venue in Sindian (新店) that could hold no more than half the number. Organizers say the turnout was unexpected given traditional voting patterns in the area.
Despite the apparent success of these events, senior DPP officials remain cautious on whether the efforts will translate into votes on Saturday. The KMT retains large support throughout the Greater Taipei area and younger tech-savvy voters are among a segment traditionally seen as the least inclined to cast votes on any election day.
“I guess the only way to find out is whether these candidates succeed on Nov. 27,” Wu said. “And if they do, I’m sure the KMT will also change its tactics. Ultimately, I believe that it’ll be a good development for Taiwan’s political environment.”
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