ssive Party (DPP), announced that he would seek the DPP nomination for the presidency in 2008. Being one of the four presidential hopefuls from the ruling party, including Vice President Annette Lu, Premier Su Cheng-chang and DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun, Hsieh became the first among them to openly declare his presidential ambitions, thus gaining a strategic advantage for himself.
The significance of Hsieh’s announcement resides in the fact that he is a politician known for his resourcefulness with a remarkable career matched by few, including serving as a member of the Taipei City Council, a legislator, a vice-presidential nominee of the DPP and mayor of Kaohsiung in the south. He lost in the mayoral race in Taipei in 2006, but that he was able to garner over 40 percent of the total votes cast, well above the conventional estimate of DPP supporters in this northern city, surprised many.
If he should finally team up with Su, a charismatic leader, the chances of the ticket winning would be extremely high, particularly at a time when Ma Ying-jeou, most likely to be nominated by the opposition Kuomintang, is mired in the legal trouble of the “special fund.”
