‘Love for Taiwan’ will become the DPP’s main campaign theme

Indeed, one cannot but wonder what on earth the above pledges have any significance with regard to Hsieh’s qualifications as president. This can only confirm the observation that the DPP really has little to offer in substance to attract voters. But, such remarks do indicate that the DPP will repeatedly play up the theme of “love for Taiwan” between now and election day.

Never underestimate the emotional impact of such a seemingly simple and worn-out campaign tactic on native Taiwanese suffering from a long history of perceived “suppressive rule” by “alien” regimes, including KMT governments instituted by “mainlanders.”

Aside from the fact that children of Ma Ying-jeou, the presidential candidate of the Kuomintang (KMT), may have dual citizenship from being born in the United States, Ma is being cast as suffering from inherent weaknesses in terms of his loyalty to Taiwan.

First of all, he was born in Hong Kong, considered a “mainlander” politician in Taiwan.

Secondly, the vigorous promotion of cross-strait exchanges by Ma and the KMT, though intended to benefit Taiwan economically, fuels suspicion among native Taiwanese about a political tilt toward Beijing. This suspicion is reportedly even shared by the U.S., as indicated by its continued support of President Chen despite a host of serious corruption scandals in the government.

Thirdly, the full name of the KMT —- the KMT of China, will provide fire to the charge that deep down, KMT members including Ma still miss their Chinese roots. The KMT leadership must brace itself for more and more fierce attacks from the DPP as election day approaches.

Fourthly, the unexpected, overwhelming victory scored by the KMT and its allies in Jan. 12 legislative elections gives further justification to the call for Taiwanese to show their profound love for Taiwan by electing as president Hsieh, a Taiwanese, so that “mainlanders” will not “take the whole bowl.”

Indications are that more and more people, including knowledgeable observers and past anti-Chen activists, have expressed misgivings about the unchecked one-party dominance exercised by the KMT over Taiwan politics when it has controlled both the Parliament and the presidency. Recent polls show the popularity gap between Ma and Hsieh has already narrowed substantially.

The percentage of total votes garnered by the DPP in the legislative elections demonstrated that the ruling party managed to hold on to its basic power base, even though it lost miserably in terms of the number of legislative seats.

Thus, it is highly likely that “pan-green” voters will re-group and flock to cast ballots in unexpectedly large numbers under a last-minute emotional call for “love for Taiwan.”

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